Mountain State Preview
November 06, 2009 11:47 AM | General
November 6, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sunday will be the first opportunity for Mountaineer basketball fans to watch the nation’s No. 8 rated team in action.
West Virginia, ranked in the preseason Top 10 for the first time since 1963, will take on NAIA power Mountain State in a 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon exhibition game at the WVU Coliseum
Mountain State has already played four times, including a 107-74 victory over West Virginia Wesleyan earlier this week. In that game, 6-foot-5 Cincinnati transfer Alvin Mitchell scored 31 points, hitting 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
“They’ve been national champions, they’ve been national runners-up and they are top five in the country NAIA,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “They’ve given us really good games the last two years. I think it’s a great game for us. I think it gives our young guys a chance to play in front of hopefully a packed house and just get used to the environment.”
Mountain State has four players standing taller than 6-8 including 7-foot-8-inch center Paul Sturgess from Loughborough, England.
“They’ve got more than a big kid,” said Huggins. “Their leading scorer was all-conference at Western Carolina (6-7 forward Nick Aldridge). They’ve got Alvin Mitchell from Cincinnati. They’ve got Division I caliber players. Bobby (Bolen) does a great job of coaching them and they play really hard.”
Huggins said Thursday that junior guard Joe Mazzulla will likely be held out of Sunday’s game, meaning sophomore Truck Bryant should get the starting nod at point guard.
The rest of the lineup could include Da’Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks at forward, Wellington Smith at center and junior college transfer Casey Mitchell at shooting guard.
Freshman center Deniz Kilicli will also be available for the exhibition game and Huggins said he should see action.
“All the experience he can get certainly helps him,” he said. “He probably hasn’t played in an environment like this.”
Sunday will provide an opportunity for Huggins to work in youngsters Danny Jennings and Dalton Pepper before the games start counting next Sunday against Loyola. Huggins may not be able to afford that luxury later on because of the tough early season schedule the Mountaineers are facing.
“There is a lot of stuff and particularly who we play early on,” Huggins said. “You talk about going out and playing Long Beach who is picked to win their league and then Clemson or (Texas) A&M and whoever comes out of the other bracket. We’ve got to get a lot of things in and we’re going to play against a lot of different styles. We’re going to play against man, we’re going to play against zone; we’re going to get pressed. It’s a lot of things to get in. They’re still thinking and not playing. I think our older guys are playing because they know what we want done.”
Huggins is hopeful of having a large, boisterous crowd on Sunday.
“I think what’s exciting is we’re somewhere between 7,500 and 8,000 season tickets. When you factor the students in that’s 10,000,” Huggins noted. “I’ve said a long time that the people of West Virginia ought to come see us play. They shouldn’t come because we’re playing Connecticut, Syracuse or whoever and come and enjoy this team because it’s been 50 years I think since we’ve been ranked Top 10 in the preseason.
“I know how proud this state is and it would be great to fill the arena for every game and watch us play.”
The game will air locally on WAJR. Fans can watch a live stream of the exhibition game by signing up for MountaineerTV through MSNsportsNET.com. Next Sunday’s regular season opener against Loyola can also be seen on MountaineerTV.
Following the men’s game Mountaineer fans can also get their first glimpse of Mike Carey’s women’s team when it faces Glenville State at 6 p.m. That game will also air on MountaineerTV.
