Playbook-video-2615.jpg
Mountaineers Go Bear Hunting
February 06, 2015 01:58 PM | General
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(18-4)
(17-5)MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia begins a two-game Big 12 home stand on Saturday afternoon when the Mountaineers play host to 19th-ranked Baylor.
The Bears (17-5, 5-4) have won four of their last five games, including a 77-57 victory over TCU earlier this week.
In that game, Baylor got double-digit contributions from five different players, including a 14-point, 17-rebound effort from 6-foot-8, 275-pound forward Rico Gathers.
Gathers has been a man this year for Baylor, the junior averaging 10.7 points and a conference-best 12.3 rebounds per game. Gathers’ best night was a 25-point, 28-rebound, double-double against Huston-Tillotson.
He has grabbed at least 10 boards in 18 games in 22 games this season and has pulled down 32 rebounds in Baylor’s last two wins against Texas and TCU. The one area where Gathers has struggled is shooting the basketball, Baylor’s top inside player is making just 82 of his 194 field goal attempts for 42.3 percent. That’s a low percentage for a guy who plays so close to the basket.
“They really rebound the ball, particularly at the offensive end,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “Rico Gathers is as good a rebounder as there is in the country. I liked him when he was in high school. He’s always rebounded the ball and I think as much as that, he understands what he does well and really tries to accentuate what he does well.”
Baylor is shooting 42.8 percent overall as a team, but is shooting a respectable 37.7 percent from 3.
Lester Medford (34), Taurean Prince (33), Kenny Chery (32) and Royce O’Neale (29) have made 29 or more 3s this year and are all shooting 39.5 percent or better from behind the arc.
“They’ve got four guys basically shooting over 40 percent (from 3),” said Huggins.
Chery is one of the best all-around players in the Big 12, the senior averaging 11.8 points per game while handing out 69 assists and making 30 steals. Chery has had good games against West Virginia in the past.
“He’s a good player,” said Huggins.
Medford is Baylor’s top playmaker with 83 assists in 22 games.
“They’re about nine-deep, really athletic and long,” said Huggins of Baylor.
The Bears have turned the ball over some this year (12.4 tpg.) and they have only played six road games this year, going 3-3 in those games. Baylor is just 1-3 on the road in Big 12 games this year.
Last year, Baylor came to Morgantown and defeated the Mountaineers 88-75 behind O’Neale’s 22 points on 4-of-4 shooting from 3. Chery had 13 points and seven assists.
West Virginia, meanwhile, is looking to get back on track after losing by 19 at 21st-ranked Oklahoma earlier this week.
The 15hth-rated Mountaineers (18-4, 6-3) struggled shooting the basketball against the Sooners on Tuesday night, West Virginia hitting just 5-of-26 from 3 and shooting 34.4 percent overall.
“I don’t really think we took bad shots, we were just out of sync and we didn’t pass it very well,” said Huggins.
The Mountaineers played that game without second-leading scorer and top rebounder Devin Williams, who sat on the bench dressed in warm-ups while suffering from a severe cold. Huggins said Friday Williams was able to practice a little on Thursday and he will know more about Williams’ status for Saturday following Friday’s practice.
Williams is averaging 11.3 points and a team-best eight rebounds per game and will likely guard Gathers if he is capable of playing.
Juwan Staten continues to lead the Mountaineers in scoring with an average of 14.8 points per game. The senior has handed out a team-best 91 assists and made 23 steals.
Where the other offense comes from will likely determine the outcome of Saturday’s game. Five different players are averaging between 6.1 and 9.0 points per game, but their production has not come on a consistent basis.
Forward Jonathan Holton is averaging 9.0 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, but he has been in constant foul trouble and that has clearly limited his productivity.
Freshman guards Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles Jr. have had outstanding games this year while disappearing in others, which is typical for freshman. Gary Browne, Tarik Phillip, Elijah Macon and Jaysean Paige have had their moments this year, too, and forward Nathan Adrian has seen considerable minutes spelling Holton, but he has had a miserable time finding his shooting stroke, hitting just 7 of his 45 3-point field goal tries so far this year.
Overall, WVU is shooting 41.4 percent as a team and just 29.6 percent from behind the arc. Still, Huggins says the secret to his team’s success is not necessarily making a lot of shots, but disrupting the other team and keeping them from making a lot of shots.
“We’ve got to get our hands on balls and we’re not very good when we don’t make people uncomfortable and turn them over,” said Huggins.
Tip off for Saturday’s game is scheduled for noon and the contest will be televised nationally on ESPNU. The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG’s radio coverage begins with the pregame show at 11:30 a.m. on stations throughout the Mountain State and also online through leanStream and the app WVU GameDay.
Less than 750 tickets remain for the game and those can be purchased by calling the Mountaineer Ticket Office toll-free at 1-800-WVU GAME or by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
NCAA Baseball Selection Show | Morgantown Regional
Monday, May 25
Steve Sabins, Ian Korn | Kansas Postgame
Sunday, May 24
NCAA Regionals Recap
Saturday, May 23
TV Highlights | Big 12 Baseball Tournament Semifinal
Saturday, May 23
