WVU Coach Bob Huggins talks about the upcoming Big East Tournament. The Mountaineers will face the winner of the Rutgers-Notre Dame game on Wednesday at 7 pm. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.

On Big East Sportsmanship award:
I think it’s very well deserved. He’s a great kid on the floor and off the floor. He’s been a great student and a great leader for us. He’s been involved in numerous community endeavors and not just here in Morgantown – he’s traveled throughout the state to be involved in worthwhile causes. I think without question he’s deserving.

On All-Big East team selections:
If things were the way they’ve been, Da’Sean (Butler) would’ve been a first team guy. We used to have 10 on the first team. I think it’s a great honor for Da’Sean. I think there’s great freshmen in this league and I think it’s a great honor for Devin (Ebanks). Kevin (Jones) had to be close. Kevin had to be somewhere real close to the top five. Devin has just gotten better and better. In Big East play, he’s averaging 11 points and eight rebounds a game. That’s pretty good for anybody.

On Kevin Jones’ latest performances:
When you go back and think when we signed him, we signed him early. He was the guy everybody was excited about. He’s certainly a guy I was excited about. He’s a great kid and he does a lot of good things.

Significance of first-round bye in Big East Tournament:
We had the same situation a year ago. Sometimes it’s almost better you play a game. You get the jitters out. We didn’t play very well against Providence a year ago. I think for the long run, you need to have the bye. Sometimes I think in your first game and they’ve already played a game, it’s almost kind of an advantage for them.

On what team needs to do to be successful:
For us we have to rebound it. We’re going to play Notre Dame or Rutgers and we wouldn’t have beaten either one of them if we hadn’t rebounded. We have to rebound the ball. It’d be nice if we made some shots. Kevin was very good. Alex didn’t many good looks and Da’Sean went 4-of-17. I think for us to make a run, we gotta get Da’Sean back to making shots the way he was when he had that great run and Alex making shots. Alex has been making shots, but he didn’t get very many good looks.

On play of the newcomers:
The freshmen have gotten better and better. I think Truck (Bryant) gave us a really good second half even though he didn’t score. Other than the one ill-advised pass, I thought he was very solid with the ball. Devin and Kevin both continue to get better and better. We got contributions from other guys too.

On Ruoff’s performance against Louisville:
He never got into a flow. I put him back in the first half just to try to get him into the flow because I know sometimes a guy gets two fouls and you sit him on the bench and he comes back in the second half and doesn’t respond. You kind of hold your breath when you put him back in and he starts the second half and gets two fouls in about five seconds and he never really got into the flow of things.