USF Preview
March 02, 2012 10:19 PM | General
WEST VIRGINIA GAME NOTES
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – South Florida is hyping Saturday’s game against West Virginia as one of the biggest in school history. But then again, it seems like every time the Mountaineers head down to South Florida to play a football or basketball game this happens.
“We do this all the time,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins of taking his team into a charged-up atmosphere. “Is that any better than going into Wichita, Kansas in front of 18,000 people there? I think in a lot of ways it may help our guys.”
On Saturday at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, the Bulls will have a chance to lock up a 20-win season and add to their already pretty compelling NCAA tournament résumé that includes recent wins over Cincinnati and Louisville. South Florida has won six of its last seven (the lone loss coming at Syracuse) and has not allowed an opponent to score more than 56 points in almost a month.
South Florida’s opponents are shooting just 39.2 percent and the Bulls are surrendering only 57.4 points per game.
“They play a lot like Pitt used to play. They’re inside the 3-point line and they’re just so long,” said Huggins. “They’re kind of like we were a couple of years ago. All but one guy out there is at least 6-5, 6-6, and they’re long. They get their hands and arms in there and they do a great job of contesting everything inside the 3. And they’re long enough that they put pressure on you outside the 3.”
South Florida is 12-5 in Big East play this year and is 14-1 at home.
“Stan (Heath), like all of us, everybody thinks you’re supposed to go in and recruit a bunch of freshmen and go beat the world with freshmen and unless you’re recruiting the kind of guys Cal (John Calipari) does it doesn’t happen,” said Huggins. “Ron Anderson is a five-year guy, (Augustus) Gilchrist is a five-year guy; these other guys are four-year guys, and really the only young guy who is playing is Anthony Collins (former WVU guard J.D Collins’ younger brother), who has done a fantastic job for them.”
Huggins says USF’s maturity across the board really shows up when he watches them on tape.
“They’ve got guys that have been there and understand,” he said. “They’ve done a really good job and it’s kind of like we were in 2010. We had a whole bunch of upperclassmen and you bring in a couple of talented freshmen like they brought in Anthony Collins and you’re going to have a pretty good team. It’s almost like men playing against kids, and he’s got a lot of men.”
West Virginia (18-12) needs a win to finish with a .500 record in Big East play and add to its postseason credentials. The Mountaineers are coming off a 17-point victory over DePaul when they scored the most points (92) since dropping 97 on Alcorn State back on Nov. 17.
Truck Bryant had 28 and Kevin Jones added 22 points and 16 rebounds. Jones is averaging 20 points and 12.2 rebounds per game while Bryant has boosted his average to 17.1 points per contest.
West Virginia was won seven of eight in the series, including seven in a row. Huggins is 19-1 against the Bulls with his only loss coming while he was coaching at Cincinnati. Stan Heath is 1-5 against West Virginia with his lone win coming while he was at Arkansas in 2006.
Tipoff is set for noon and the game will be televised on the Big East Network. MSN’s coverage begins with the Coliseum Countdown at 11:30 a.m.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – South Florida is hyping Saturday’s game against West Virginia as one of the biggest in school history. But then again, it seems like every time the Mountaineers head down to South Florida to play a football or basketball game this happens.
“We do this all the time,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins of taking his team into a charged-up atmosphere. “Is that any better than going into Wichita, Kansas in front of 18,000 people there? I think in a lot of ways it may help our guys.”
On Saturday at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, the Bulls will have a chance to lock up a 20-win season and add to their already pretty compelling NCAA tournament résumé that includes recent wins over Cincinnati and Louisville. South Florida has won six of its last seven (the lone loss coming at Syracuse) and has not allowed an opponent to score more than 56 points in almost a month.
South Florida’s opponents are shooting just 39.2 percent and the Bulls are surrendering only 57.4 points per game.
“They play a lot like Pitt used to play. They’re inside the 3-point line and they’re just so long,” said Huggins. “They’re kind of like we were a couple of years ago. All but one guy out there is at least 6-5, 6-6, and they’re long. They get their hands and arms in there and they do a great job of contesting everything inside the 3. And they’re long enough that they put pressure on you outside the 3.”
South Florida is 12-5 in Big East play this year and is 14-1 at home.
“Stan (Heath), like all of us, everybody thinks you’re supposed to go in and recruit a bunch of freshmen and go beat the world with freshmen and unless you’re recruiting the kind of guys Cal (John Calipari) does it doesn’t happen,” said Huggins. “Ron Anderson is a five-year guy, (Augustus) Gilchrist is a five-year guy; these other guys are four-year guys, and really the only young guy who is playing is Anthony Collins (former WVU guard J.D Collins’ younger brother), who has done a fantastic job for them.”
Huggins says USF’s maturity across the board really shows up when he watches them on tape.
“They’ve got guys that have been there and understand,” he said. “They’ve done a really good job and it’s kind of like we were in 2010. We had a whole bunch of upperclassmen and you bring in a couple of talented freshmen like they brought in Anthony Collins and you’re going to have a pretty good team. It’s almost like men playing against kids, and he’s got a lot of men.”
West Virginia (18-12) needs a win to finish with a .500 record in Big East play and add to its postseason credentials. The Mountaineers are coming off a 17-point victory over DePaul when they scored the most points (92) since dropping 97 on Alcorn State back on Nov. 17.
Truck Bryant had 28 and Kevin Jones added 22 points and 16 rebounds. Jones is averaging 20 points and 12.2 rebounds per game while Bryant has boosted his average to 17.1 points per contest.
West Virginia was won seven of eight in the series, including seven in a row. Huggins is 19-1 against the Bulls with his only loss coming while he was coaching at Cincinnati. Stan Heath is 1-5 against West Virginia with his lone win coming while he was at Arkansas in 2006.
Tipoff is set for noon and the game will be televised on the Big East Network. MSN’s coverage begins with the Coliseum Countdown at 11:30 a.m.
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