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January 22, 2011 01:47 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia will try to put Wednesday's disappointing performance behind it when the Mountaineers face South Florida Sunday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
West Virginia (12-5, 3-2) dropped a 75-71 decision to Marshall Wednesday night in Charleston, the Mountaineers falling behind by as many as 24 points early in the second half. WVU went 11 minutes without making a basket during one stretch at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second.
"Our margin for error is so slim that we've got to come out and play really, really hard and hopefully play well," said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. "Most of the time when we play hard we have a chance and if we play well we can win but we can't do one without the other, that's for sure."
Overall West Virginia shot 33.3%, including 29.4% from 3-point distance. Casey Mitchell led WVU with 18 points but was just 5 of 17 shooting. Truck Bryant, West Virginia's other starting guard, was 1 of 6 from the floor and finished with 10 points.
Since scoring a season-high 25 in a loss at Marquette on Jan. 1, Bryant has made just 13 of his last 50 field goal attempts in games against DePaul, Georgetown, Providence, Purdue and Marshall.
As a team, West Virginia has not topped 50% shooting since the DePaul game on Jan. 4; since then the Mountaineers have shot 40.4% against Georgetown, 48.6% against Providence, 46% against Purdue and a season-low 33.3% against Marshall.
West Virginia can ill-afford another cold shooting performance against a USF team hunting for Big East wins. The Bulls (7-13, 1-6) got their first league win of the season on Jan. 16 against Providence, 79-72, to snap a five-game losing streak to begin Big East play. USF's losses were to Seton Hall, Connecticut, Villanova, Louisville, Cincinnati and most, recently, at Rutgers Wednesday night.
In Wednesday's nine-point loss at Rutgers, forward Agustus Gilchrist and guard Hugh Robertson scored 14 points each. Guard Jawanza Poland added 10. USF also has experienced shooting woes, hitting just 19 of 50 against Rutgers for 38% and shooting 42% for the year.
"They've struggled in the league, but they've been in every game," said Huggins. "They took UConn at UConn to overtime. They're very capable."
Gilchrist, a 6-foot-10 junior forward, is a player Big East fans are aware of. Earlier this month he had back-to-back double-doubles in points and rebounds against Villanova and Louisville, and also produced a 21-point, eight-rebound performance against Connecticut. Gilchrist is averaging 12.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
Ron Anderson Jr., a 6-foot-8 junior forward who transferred from Kansas State, has played well at times this year, particularly on the glass where he grabbed 15 first-half rebounds in a game earlier this year against Liberty and finished with 17. In the victory over Providence, USF owned the paint, getting 40 of its 79 points close to the basket.
South Florida owns a six-rebound advantage against its opponents this season.
"They pose a lot of problems; they've got great size," said Huggins.
Mitchell continues to lead the Mountaineers in scoring with an average of 16.8 points per game. Junior forward Kevin Jones is averaging 13.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, while Bryant shows a 12.1 points-per-game average.
Senior John Flowers has been playing really well of late, scoring a career-high 24 in a recent win over Providence and boosting his scoring average to 9.5 points per game. In his last three games the 6-7 forward is averaging 18.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
The Bulls have lost all six times they have faced West Virginia since joining the Big East, most recently dropping a 69-50 decision to the Mountaineers last year in Tampa.
South Florida has made two previous trips to Morgantown in 2007 and 2009, losing both times by scores of 69-58 and 62-59. USF's only victory in the series came in 1977 in Tampa, 80-71.
Tip off is set for 2 p.m. The game will be televised on the Big East Network (Justin Kutcher and Tim O'Toole) and will air locally on FSN Pittsburgh as well as on ESPN Full Court and ESPN3.com.
MSN's radio broadcast can also be accessed on Sirius satellite radio channel 122 and the Best of XM channel 143.
Only a handful of tickets remain for the game and can be purchased at the gate prior to Sunday's game.
West Virginia (12-5, 3-2) dropped a 75-71 decision to Marshall Wednesday night in Charleston, the Mountaineers falling behind by as many as 24 points early in the second half. WVU went 11 minutes without making a basket during one stretch at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second.
"Our margin for error is so slim that we've got to come out and play really, really hard and hopefully play well," said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. "Most of the time when we play hard we have a chance and if we play well we can win but we can't do one without the other, that's for sure."
Overall West Virginia shot 33.3%, including 29.4% from 3-point distance. Casey Mitchell led WVU with 18 points but was just 5 of 17 shooting. Truck Bryant, West Virginia's other starting guard, was 1 of 6 from the floor and finished with 10 points.
Since scoring a season-high 25 in a loss at Marquette on Jan. 1, Bryant has made just 13 of his last 50 field goal attempts in games against DePaul, Georgetown, Providence, Purdue and Marshall.
As a team, West Virginia has not topped 50% shooting since the DePaul game on Jan. 4; since then the Mountaineers have shot 40.4% against Georgetown, 48.6% against Providence, 46% against Purdue and a season-low 33.3% against Marshall.
West Virginia can ill-afford another cold shooting performance against a USF team hunting for Big East wins. The Bulls (7-13, 1-6) got their first league win of the season on Jan. 16 against Providence, 79-72, to snap a five-game losing streak to begin Big East play. USF's losses were to Seton Hall, Connecticut, Villanova, Louisville, Cincinnati and most, recently, at Rutgers Wednesday night.
In Wednesday's nine-point loss at Rutgers, forward Agustus Gilchrist and guard Hugh Robertson scored 14 points each. Guard Jawanza Poland added 10. USF also has experienced shooting woes, hitting just 19 of 50 against Rutgers for 38% and shooting 42% for the year.
"They've struggled in the league, but they've been in every game," said Huggins. "They took UConn at UConn to overtime. They're very capable."
Gilchrist, a 6-foot-10 junior forward, is a player Big East fans are aware of. Earlier this month he had back-to-back double-doubles in points and rebounds against Villanova and Louisville, and also produced a 21-point, eight-rebound performance against Connecticut. Gilchrist is averaging 12.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
Ron Anderson Jr., a 6-foot-8 junior forward who transferred from Kansas State, has played well at times this year, particularly on the glass where he grabbed 15 first-half rebounds in a game earlier this year against Liberty and finished with 17. In the victory over Providence, USF owned the paint, getting 40 of its 79 points close to the basket.
South Florida owns a six-rebound advantage against its opponents this season.
"They pose a lot of problems; they've got great size," said Huggins.
Mitchell continues to lead the Mountaineers in scoring with an average of 16.8 points per game. Junior forward Kevin Jones is averaging 13.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, while Bryant shows a 12.1 points-per-game average.
Senior John Flowers has been playing really well of late, scoring a career-high 24 in a recent win over Providence and boosting his scoring average to 9.5 points per game. In his last three games the 6-7 forward is averaging 18.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
The Bulls have lost all six times they have faced West Virginia since joining the Big East, most recently dropping a 69-50 decision to the Mountaineers last year in Tampa.
South Florida has made two previous trips to Morgantown in 2007 and 2009, losing both times by scores of 69-58 and 62-59. USF's only victory in the series came in 1977 in Tampa, 80-71.
Tip off is set for 2 p.m. The game will be televised on the Big East Network (Justin Kutcher and Tim O'Toole) and will air locally on FSN Pittsburgh as well as on ESPN Full Court and ESPN3.com.
MSN's radio broadcast can also be accessed on Sirius satellite radio channel 122 and the Best of XM channel 143.
Only a handful of tickets remain for the game and can be purchased at the gate prior to Sunday's game.
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