Campus Connection
February 25, 2010 03:48 PM | General
(3:48 p.m.)
Not since the Franks of France took on the Holy Roman Empire has anyone wanted to whip up on somebody else as bad as Cincinnati wants to beat its former coach Bob Huggins. It was evident last year when the school ambushed Huggins with kindness during an emotional pregame dedication ceremony, and then took West Virginia’s lunch money in a 65-61 Bearcat victory.
Two years ago in Morgantown, it was Shock and Awe for the Mountaineers during a nauseating 62-39 defeat against Cincinnati in front of 10,082 head-scratching witnesses. West Virginia made just 10 field goals, including 1 of 22 from 3-point distance, in one of the worst shooting performances in Coliseum history.
“They beat us everywhere there is to beat us,” Huggins said after that game. “The reality is, if we don’t foul them, we hold them to 50-some points. But who are we going to beat scoring 30 points?”
(For you history buffs looking for a worse game, how about the 49-38 stinker against Duquesne on Feb. 6, 1980 at the Coliseum prior to the shot clock era. The Dukes attempted just 33 shots for the game.)
In West Virginia’s two appearances against Cincinnati since Huggins’ return to his alma mater, the Mountaineers have shot a frigid 27.4 percent, including 11.6 percent (5 of 43) from behind the 3-point arc.
So those of you already counting Saturday’s game in the win column might want to reconsider, particularly the WVU students who will be able to get a couple of more hours of sleep before Saturday’s 2 p.m. tip time.
And now, spanning the Coliseum …
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| Ed Pastilong |
Pastilong grew up in Moundsville in the state’s Northern Panhandle and was a star quarterback at Moundsville High School before enrolling at West Virginia University.
Congratulations to Coach Vic Riggs and his well-rounded WVU women’s swimmers and divers.
Speaking of free throws, there is one common trait in all five of West Virginia’s losses this year: WVU’s opponents have made more free throws than the Mountaineers.
Notre Dame had a plus-15 free throw margin, Syracuse was plus-3, Villanova was plus-1, Pitt was plus-5 and Connecticut was plus-18. In two road losses to Notre Dame and Connecticut, the free throw shooting discrepancy was profound. Notre Dame attempted 24 free throws to West Virginia’s 4 while UConn tried 42 free throws to West Virginia’s 23.
The Mountaineers have missed 36 free throws in their last three losses to Villanova, Pitt and Connecticut.
“West Virginia was a 6-seed in the NCAA, we were a 5-seed in the NIT,” Davis told Katz. “That shows how important it is to schedule better in November and December and how important those games are.”
Katz pointed out that Providence’s RPI on Selection Sunday last year was 70 with a strength of schedule of 48. West Virginia’s RPI last year was 21 with a strength of schedule of 9.
The point Davis was making is that performance in November and December is just as important as performance in February and March in the eyes of the tournament selection committee.
There will likely be 11 Big East teams on the selection committee’s board next month: Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia, Pitt, Marquette, Georgetown, Louisville, Seton Hall, Cincinnati, Connecticut and Notre Dame.
Of the 11, the top four teams (Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia and Pitt) are safe. The next three, Georgetown, Marquette and Louisville, are heading in that direction. The remaining four, Seton Hall, Cincinnati, Connecticut and Notre Dame, presently have 7-8 league records with three regular season games remaining. Those last four will probably need to win out and perform well in the Big East tournament in order to get into the NCAA tournament.
Notre Dame has won 67 of its last 73 at the Joyce Center.
That brings me to a funny story the late Jack Fleming used to tell about a trip he once made to Notre Dame for a basketball game. During his pregame radio show Fleming opted to take a commercial break for the national anthem. Just prior to the playing of the national anthem, the Notre Dame pep band played the school alma mater.
As Fleming stood up for the Notre Dame alma mater, he noticed standing at attention on the baseline with their hands placed prominently over their hearts were the three game officials.
“I knew right then that we were in trouble,” Fleming deadpanned.
On days before games I would sometimes grab a glove and go out and shag fly balls during BP, hanging out with the players and the assistant coaches. Well, it was out near the outfield batting cage where we could hear the loud crack of a wooden bat from the other side of the fence. It was obvious from the sound coming out of there that the guy in the cage taking the cuts that morning wasn’t your average college player.
Growing ever more curious, West Virginia’s pitching coach at the time (he will remain nameless) peered over the fence to get a better look at the person responsible for all of that noise. After watching for another couple of minutes our guy yells, “Son, you keep that up and one day you will be in the big leagues!”
The guy doing the hitting in the batting cage that morning was none other than reigning National League rookie of the year Chipper Jones, whose father Larry was working as an assistant coach for Stetson at the time.
At least our guy could spot top talent.
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| Chelsea Carrier |
Chelsea Carrier is ranked second in the country in the pentathlon and will be joined at nationals by Marie-Louise Asselin and Clara Grandt in the 5,000.
West Virginia recently achieved its best ever finish at Big East indoors (fourth) and is presently ranked 22nd in the country.
In the final regular season coaches' panel rankings, the Mountaineers have four wrestlers ranked in the Top 33 of their respective weight classes. Freshman Shane Young is ranked No. 29 at 125, sophomore Colin Johnston is 19th at 133, redshirt senior Donnie Jones is 22 at 165 and junior Brandon Williamson is No. 28 at heavyweight.
In the final RPI, Young is 11th, Johnston and Jones are 20th at their respective weight classes and Williamson is 19th.
Williamson closed out the regular season with a seven-match winning streak, including victories over two ranked opponents. He went 6-0 against EWL competition and locked up the top seed at the EWL Championships, held at the WVU Coliseum on March 7. The one-day event begins at 10 a.m.
“There are 12 girls on the team and it’s really hard for everyone to get along,” she explained. “You just look at UConn and you can tell that they all get along. They’re smiling and laughing – even the girls that don’t play a lot, they’re okay with the roles that they have. That’s really big.”
Those close to the WVU women’s program will point to team chemistry as the single biggest determining factor in this year’s 25-3 record heading into Saturday’s home finale against Marquette. What is so remarkable about the makeup of this year’s team is the large number of two- and four-year transfers in the program.
“The younger players really respect the older players,” said Campbell. “Everyone says to each other, ‘We need you’ – even a player that doesn’t play a lot. For example, Jess Capers … when Madina Ali got hurt (ankle) we were like, ‘We need you. We need you in practice and we need you to step up.’ You never know when you are going to be called and she looked at us and she said, ‘I’m ready.’”
Basketball old-timers will say team chemistry may have cost West Virginia a second consecutive Final Four appearance in 1960 during Jerry West’s senior season. The Mountaineers were knocked out of the NCAA tournament in the second round by an NYU team West Virginia beat by 29 points in Morgantown earlier that season.
NYU, led by Tom Sanders, had great team chemistry that year and made it to the national semifinals where they were knocked out by eventual national champion Ohio State.
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| Nikki Izzo-Brown |
It is one of five competitive dates permitted by the NCAA during the spring season which concludes with an April 25 contest at Ohio State.
Coach Nikki Izzo-Brown’s Mountaineers made their 10th trip to NCAAs last year (ninth longest active streak in the country) and she returns the bulk of her key players from last year’s team.
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| Dan DiBartolomeo |
Van Zant currently has just two veteran hitters in his lineup in juniors Jedd Gyorko and Grant Buckner.
Last year, the Mountaineers were one of the top hitting teams in the country with a .360 team batting average. Through three games so far this year against three quality pitching staffs, West Virginia is batting just .214.
Van Zant believes West Virginia (0-3) will eventually get things ironed out at the plate, but it may not come this weekend in Clearwater, Fla., when WVU plays Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State and Purdue in the Big East-Big Ten Challenge.
There will be autograph and photograph opportunities, a silent auction for items that include a Pat White signed Dolphins jersey, speakers and refreshments. Tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased in advance today and tomorrow at the Mountainlair.
Have a great weekend shoveling snow!
