Basketball Notebook
January 04, 2009 02:43 PM | General
January 4, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Bob Huggins is concerned about Connecticut’s athleticism on the perimeter and great size in the paint with Hasheem Thabeet, Jeff Adrien, Stanley Robinson and Gavin Edwards when the Mountaineers hook up with the Huskies in Morgantown Tuesday night.
 |
||
| Seton Hall's Paul Gause, left, and West Virginia's Devin Ebanks scramble after a loose ball during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 3, 2009 in Newark, N.J. West Virginia won 92-66.
AP photo |
UConn rebounded from its surprising 74-63 loss to Georgetown last Monday by totally dismantling Rutgers on Saturday night.
Georgetown was able to limit Connecticut to 44.9 shooting while back-cutting its way to an easy 11-point victory over the No. 2-rated Huskies.
Saturday, Rutgers got no back cuts against Connecticut, and the Scarlet Knights had a miserable time shooting the basketball in a 31-point UConn rout. Rutgers converted 28.8 percent of its shot attempts, including just 2 of 11 from 3-point distance.
Connecticut spent a majority of the second half putting on a fast-break and dunking exhibition.
“(UConn) was the best defensive team of the three we faced,” said Rutgers coach Fred Hill, whose Scarlet Knights also played No. 1 North Carolina and No. 3 Pitt during a seven-day span.
George Blaney coached the Huskies in the second half of the Rutgers game in place of Jim Calhoun, who has been suffering from a case of the shingles. The 66-year-old Calhoun has missed all or parts of games in each of the last four years.
Also, center Hasheem Thabeet left the bench for several minutes in the second half with a hip pointer. Thabeet scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 21 minutes of work against the Scarlet Knights.
“Kemba Walker is probably the quickest guy in our league,” Huggins said. “We had a hard time staying in front of (Jerome) Dyson and (A.J.) Price a year ago. (Craig) Austrie is not maybe as quick but he’s so skilled with the ball.
“They have the four most talented guards in the league … and Pitt has got a bunch, too.”
A.J. Price wore West Virginia out last year, scoring 24 points in Connecticut’s 79-71 win in Hartford and producing 22 in West Virginia’s 78-72 victory in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals.
Four of the eight players West Virginia used in last year’s UConn win will not be on the floor Tuesday night against the Huskies (Joe Alexander, Jamie Smalligan, Darris Nichols and Joe Mazzulla).
Alexander had one of the best games of his career with 34 points and seven rebounds against the Huskies.
Thabeet scored 2 points and grabbed a pair of rebounds in the regular season win in Hartford, and he had 6 points, six rebounds and four fouls in the Big East Tournament.
West Virginia also fared well earlier this year against Ohio State’s big front line of B.J. Mullens and Dallas Lauderdale.
Huggins frequently mentions his team’s lack of size in the middle, but there is perhaps no team in the country with as many interchangeable players as West Virginia has. Aside from point guard Truck Bryant, the Mountaineers have seven quality players in the 6-6 to 6-9 range to occupy the remaining four positions on the floor.
That enables the Mountaineers to easily switch on defense.
Huggins also has arguably the most productive group of freshmen in the country. Bryant has been a big surprise at point guard averaging 11.2 points and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 40.5 percent from 3-point range.
The Brooklyn resident has also fared surprisingly well handling the basketball, committing just 20 turnovers in 13 games so far this year.
Devin Ebanks leads the team in rebounding (6.8) while also gradually increasing his scoring average to 7.8 points per game. Ebanks nearly had another double-double Saturday against Seton Hall, scoring 10 points and grabbing nine rebounds.
And Kevin Jones had an efficient 12-point, five-rebound effort in only 13 minutes of action against the Pirates. Jones was 6 of 7 from the floor against Seton Hall and he now shows averages of 6.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
The last five games the winning margin has been 10 points or less:
West Virginia was 26th in last week’s AP poll and was 27th in the coaches’ poll. Losses this week by Tennessee, Ohio State, Michigan, Baylor, Minnesota, Gonzaga and Louisville could get the Mountaineers into the rankings.
It may not be reflective in the national rankings, but RealTimeRPI.com has Connecticut ninth and West Virginia 10th in its updated power rankings.
West Virginia’s strength of schedule is ranked 18th while Connecticut’s is 25th.
“I was hopeful that we would be ready to go. We didn’t have four real good practices and it’s hard. It’s New Year’s Eve and New Year’s. I was a little concerned,” Huggins said. “We were a little slow and we didn’t get to the ball the way we have been getting to the ball.
“But we responded and played well in the second half,” Huggins said.
“Tuesday we get Connecticut and then Saturday we go to Marquette, who just beat Villanova at home. It just never stops,” Huggins said. “We can’t not show up and not bring our ‘A’ game. We don’t have a guy in there that erases mistakes.”
However, Huggins does not have the best record through 50 games. That distinction goes to Lee Patton, who went 44-6 through his first 50 games in 1946-48. And George King was 41-9 during his first 50 games at WVU in 1960-61.
West Virginia’s Top 5 Coaches Through 50 Games
