Moutaineers and Pirates to Battle
February 19, 2010 03:41 PM | General
February 19, 2010
WEST VIRGINIA GAME NOTES | SETON HALL GAME NOTES
MORGANTOWN. W.Va. – Seton Hall still has a lot of work to do to even get on the NCAA tournament bubble, but the Pirates believe they can take a big step toward doing that with a victory against eighth-ranked West Virginia in Morgantown on Saturday.
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| Devin Ebanks scored 22 points and grabbed 17 rebounds the first time these two teams met back on Dec. 26.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
Seton Hall (15-9, 6-7) got its first road victory Wednesday at St. Johns’ since winning at Cornell on Nov. 20. The Pirates were able to come away with a 59-50 triumph without starting point guard Eugene Harvey (bruised right wrist) and leading scorer Jeremy Hazell, who suffered a mysterious cut between the ring and middle fingers on his shooting hand during the game that required eight stitches.
“It was crazy,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins.”You just saw him grabbing his hand and he went over and you saw the blood and they spent like 10 minutes cleaning up the floor, so he must have bled pretty good.”
Hazell scored 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting before leaving the game with eight minutes in the first half. Hazell is second in the conference in scoring behind Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody with a 21.9 points-per-game average. He scored a career-high 41 against West Virginia the first time these two teams met at Seton Hall on Dec. 26.
“What did he shoot it, 33 times? If I got 33 up I’m going to make a couple,” said Huggins. He’s a really, really good player and he got a lot of points, but he got a lot of them at the end when we didn’t do a good job of finding him in transiton.”
Hazell also scored 29 in a loss to the Mountaineers in Morgantown last year. It is unknown whether or not he will be able to play against West Virginia on Saturday, but Huggins said on Friday that he expects Harvey to be ready to go. The senior is averaging 8.1 points and handing out a team-best 108 assists.
Memphis transfer Jeff Robinson is becoming much more involved now for the Pirates, averaging 10.5 points per game and shooting 53.5% from the floor.
“Robinson is playing a lot more and he’s a lot more a part of their offense,” said Huggins. “I think when we were there he was just kind of getting involved.”
Six-eight, 236-pound sophomore forward Herb Pope, a New Mexico State transfer, is giving Seton Hall 11.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per game in the post. Pope has also blocked a team-best 45 shots.
“Herb has been terrific,” said Huggins. “Herb rebounds it at both ends of the floor and I think he gives them a shot blocker and they haven’t had a shot blocker before. I think one of Herb’s greatest attributes is he passes the ball so well. They can run offense throughhim.”
Robert Mitchell, a Duquesne transfer, and Keon Lawrence, a Missouri transfer, could be asked to take up some more of the scoring slack should Hazell not be available on Saturday.
Mitchell came off the bench Wednesday against St. John’s and scored 15 points on 6 of 12 shooting. Mitchell is averaging 9.1 points per game.
“They shoot it quick,” said Huggins. “They shoot it in transition and everything is going to be penetrate and dish. They do set staggers (screens) for Hazell and I’m sure they will set staggers for somebody else if he doesn’t play. They’re not going to change what they do.”
The first time these two teams met at the Prudential Center on Dec. 26, West Virginia had the game well in hand until Seton Hall made a late run to tie it in regulation. West Virginia (20-5, 9-4) outscored the Pirates 13-7 in overtime to claim a 90-84 victory.
Devin Ebanks scored a career-high 22 points and added 17 rebounds. The 6-9 forward has played well of late, averaging 15.8 points and 8.3 rebounds over his last four games.
Da’Sean Butler scored 21 the first time against Seton Hall and is leading the Mountaineers with an average of 17.7 points per game. Butler is now 117 points shy of scoring 2,000 for his career.
Sophomore forward Kevin Jones shows averages of 13.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, while guard Truck Bryant is averaging 11 points and is handing out 81 assists, second to Butler on the team.
This will be the third Saturday afternoon ESPN game the Mountaineers have played at the Coliseum this year. Tipoff is set for noon.
