Syracuse Preview
January 15, 2010 11:47 AM | General
January 15, 2010
WEST VIRGINIA GAME NOTES
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – When Bob Huggins took the West Virginia job in 2007 he talked about bringing big games to the WVU Coliseum.
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| Syracuse forward Wes Johnson leads the Orange with averages of 17 points and 9 rebounds per game.
AP photo |
West Virginians are certainly getting one Saturday afternoon.
Fifth-rated Syracuse brings an impressive 16-1 record into the Coliseum to face No. 9 West Virginia in a battle of Top 10 teams.
There have been a handful of times when West Virginia has been in the Top 10, and on several occasions Top 10 teams have been in Morgantown, but never at the same time. That is happening tomorrow with Huggins, who was frequently involved in Top 10 matchups when he coached at Cincinnati.
“We hoped to get where we were a Top 10 team and one of the better teams in this league,” said Huggins. “ I felt like if we could get there then there was probably going to be a lot of matchups like this because this league is just full of the best teams in the country.
“I think it was a matter of us getting to where we needed to be for something like this to happen.”
Syracuse has accumulated an impressive list of victories so far this year, beating Cal and North Carolina in New York City, knocking off Florida in Tampa and beating Memphis at the Carrier Dome.
What Syracuse has done this year is somewhat surprising to outsiders, considering Jim Boeheim needed to find replacements for Jonny Flynn, Paul Harris and Eric Devendorf – three key components from last year's Sweet 16 run.
But as Boeheim has done many times in the past, he has reloaded with a team some believe is much stronger than last year’s. Boeheim has got size in the paint with 6-foot-9, 275-pound center Arinze Onuaku and 6-foot-9, 240-pound forward Rick Jackson, he’s got athletic ability on the wing in 6-foot-7 Iowa State transfer Wes Johnson, a zone-buster outside in 6-foot-5 senior Andy Rautins and a capable playmaker in freshman Brandon Triche.
“He does a great job of putting people in positions where they’re good and he does a great job of guys filling roles,” said Huggins of Boeheim.
Johnson has stepped in to lead the Orange in scoring with an average of 17 points per game. He is shooting an impressive 55.4% from the floor and is leading the team in rebounding with an average of nine boards per game.
Johnson has been equally good in Big East player where he is averaging 17.3 points and 12.0 rebounds per game.
“He’s as long as our guys,” said Huggins of Johnson.
Rautins is shooting 41.4% from 3-point range and has made a team-best 41 3s to go with a 10.3 points-per-game scoring average. Onuaku and Triche are both averaging 10.2 points per game.
Syracuse is shooting a phenomenal 53.2% as a team with four of five starters shooting 54.3% or better. Only Rautins at 45.6% is shooting below 50% among starters.
The Orange also have two players – Kris Joseph and Scoop Jardine – averaging close to 10 points per game coming off the bench. Both players are also shooting close to 50% from the floor.
In Syracuse’s 81-65 win at Rutgers Wednesday night, the Orange got 23 points from Rautins and 12 each from Jardine and Triche.
The Rutgers game was just the second time Syracuse has played in an opposing team’s gym. The Orange also beat Seton Hall by seven three days after West Virginia beat the Pirates 90-84 in overtime.
West Virginia (13-2, 4-1) has been plagued by slow starts in its last two road games at Notre Dame and South Florida. The Mountaineers were unable to overcome a 22-point deficit last Saturday at Notre Dame, dropping a 70-68 decision they had a chance of winning at the end.
West Virginia trailed South Florida by 11 with seven minutes left in the first half before getting into gear. WVU used a 16-4 to retake the lead and eventually pulled away with a 19-point victory over the Bulls.
“I thought we played very well the second half (at South Florida) and played well the second half at Notre Dame but we haven’t put it together,” said Huggins. “We haven’t played 40 minutes the way we are capable of playing."
Devin Ebanks, who went scoreless in the Notre Dame loss, rebounded with a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double – the 12th double-double of his career. Ebanks is now averaging 12.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Senior Da’Sean Butler remains the team’s scoring leader at 15.9 points per game, but he has struggled with his shooting stroke of late. In Butler’s last four games he is just 22 of 63 from the floor for 34.9%.
“We’ve got to get him going,” Huggins said. “And it’s not that he’s not playing hard and it’s not that he’s not trying”
Six-eight sophomore forward Kevin Jones had his streak of 14 straight double-figure scoring games snapped at South Florida on Wednesday night. He scored 9 points and pulled down seven rebounds Jones is averaging 15.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
“He does everything that you tell him to do and does it extra. He came in probably more as a wing guy and he continued to grow and he’s gained weight,” said Huggins. “We’ve got to use him inside now because he’s our best low-post threat as well as probably our best 3-point shooter.”
Huggins said his team is going to have to defend much better on Saturday against Syracuse in order to win the game. Huggins admits he’s not been pleased with his team defense this year.
“We are not team-guarding the way we need to team-guard,” Huggins said. “Because of our size we try to push things out a little bit and make the passing lanes a little longer and I think in doing that we’ve really neglected on our help. I think in the past we’ve been able to do both and to this point we haven’t done both consistently."
Seven players got the bulk of the minutes Wednesday against South Florida with guard Joe Mazzulla and Dalton Pepper coming off the bench to give the Mountaineers a big spark. Huggins says he takes a two-part approach to substituting.
“I think you look for guys that are going to do what the game plan is and things change. We play guys for defensive purposes and then we play guys that can make shots,” he explained. “Dalton Pepper has come in and he’s been solid defensively and he’s a threat to make shots. You’ve got to guard him. In situations when we are having a difficult time scoring we’ve got to get guys on the floor that can make shots.”
Syracuse and West Virginia have met 46 previous times with the Orange owning a 31-15 all-time record. Syracuse has won 10 of the last 11 games against West Virginia, including last year’s 74-69 overtime victory in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament.
West Virginia’s only win since 2001 against Syracuse came in 2008, an 81-61 triumph in Morgantown.
Saturday’s game will tip at noon with ESPN (Dave O’Brien and Bill Raftery) broadcasting the game nationally.
MSN’s pregame coverage begins with the Coliseum Countdown at 11 a.m. The game has been a sellout for several weeks.
