WVU Battles George Mason in Puerto Rico
November 19, 2014 03:59 PM | General
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SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO - West Virginia coach Bob Huggins and one of his players will be on familiar ground when the Mountaineers play George Mason on Thursday in the opening round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
Huggins brought the Mountaineers to San Juan just four years ago for the 2010 Puerto Rico Tip-Off, losing to Minnesota 74-70 in the championship game.
One of the reasons West Virginia is making the return trip so soon is the presence on the roster of senior guard Gary Browne, a San Juan native.
“We actually changed the (schedule). We were supposed to go next year, and we changed to get Gary back there for his senior year,” Huggins said. “He’s talked about it quite a bit. He’s excited. I know he’s looking forward to going home.”
West Virginia is off to a 2-0 start this season, defeating Monmouth 64-54 and Lafayette 83-56. Meanwhile, George Mason split its first two games, bouncing back from a 68-60 loss to Cornell with a 63-60 victory over Princeton.
Both George Mason and Coach Paul Hewitt were in San Juan for the 2009 Puerto Rico Tip-Off, though not together. Hewitt was the head coach at Georgia Tech at the time.
“We’re looking forward to being down in Puerto Rico. It’s a great tournament and a great trip for our players,” Hewitt said.
While the Patriots face the challenge of replacing their top two scorers from last season, Hewitt said this team has more size, which will be needed against the Mountaineers.
“Coach Huggins’ teams are very physical and rebound the ball very well,” Hewitt said. “He has a pretty athletic group. We know we’ll have our hands full.”
Thursday’s game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
Tip-Off Notes: West Virginia’s last in-season tournament championship occurred in 2009 when the Mountaineers won the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif. … This is West Virginia’s third appearance in Puerto Rico; the Mountaineers won the 1997 San Juan Shootout and finished second in the 2010 Puerto Rico Tip-Off … West Virginia has a massive 56-9 advantage in offensive rebounding in its first two wins of the season against Monmouth and Lafayette … Sophomore forward Devin Williams posted his 10th career double-double last Sunday against Lafayette with 15 points and 11 rebounds … Williams has double-doubles in both games so far this year … the Mountaineers have forced 22 steals in their first two games … After losing by eight to Cornell in its season opener on Nov. 14, George Mason came back to beat Princeton by three, 63-60, last Sunday … the Patriots are now playing in the Atlantic 10 Conference and have a familiar name leading them from the bench – former Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt … George Mason’s best player is 6-1 guard Patrick Holloway, who averaged 8.7 points per game last year and has scored 41 points so far this season, including a game-high 22 in the loss to Cornell … Both teams have struggled to make shots so far this year – George Mason is shooting just 36.6 percent (45 of 123) while West Virginia is even worse at 32.7 percent (49 of 150) … It’s going to be a tricky deal for radio coverage for Thursday night’s game with football playing host to Kansas State and women’s basketball facing Mississippi State in the women’s NIT – all at the same time … The men’s basketball broadcast can be heard on 94.3 WRLF in Fairmont, leanStream (WVUsports.com) and Sirius 108 and XM 199 … IMG’s Matt Chazanow will be joining Jay Jacobs on Thursday night’s men’s basketball broadcast against George Mason … Regular play-by-play man Tony Caridi will call the football game and then immediately afterward will drive up to Pittsburgh for an early-morning flight down to San Juan, arriving on Friday afternoon with a few hours to spare before West Virginia’s second-round game on Friday evening … “This is an easy one,” says Caridi … Twelve years ago, Caridi once called West Virginia’s Continental Tire Bowl game against Virginia at 11 a.m. in the morning in Charlotte, N.C., afterward hustled to the airport for a flight to Atlanta and then on to Las Vegas, arriving in time to call the second half of West Virginia’s men’s basketball game against UNLV ... All Puerto Rico Tip-Off games will be streamed via ESPN3.
- John Antonik
OPENING SCHEDULE - Action in the eighth annual Puerto Rico Tip-Off begins Thursday with four games. San Juan is in the Atlantic Time Zone (one hour ahead of ET, two hours ahead of CT and three hours ahead of MT).
Thursday, November 20
• G1 - Texas A&M vs. Dayton, ESPNU
• G2 - College of Charleston vs. Connecticut, ESPNU
• G3 - New Mexico vs. Boston College, ESPN2
• G4 - George Mason vs. West Virginia, ESPNU
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