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Big 12 Action Comes to Coliseum Saturday
January 06, 2017 02:42 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - A couple of 12-2 basketball teams will face off inside the WVU Coliseum on Saturday afternoon when West Virginia plays host to TCU.
It is the Big 12 Conference home opener for the Mountaineers, which split its two league road games to begin league play since Friday, December 30.
“This league is so balanced, which is what makes it so hard,” commented West Virginia coach Bob Huggins.
And making things even more balanced this year is the dramatic improvement last year’s bottom teams such as TCU, which won only two Big 12 games last season.
The Horned Frogs, under first-year coach Jamie Dixon, have begun conference play with a pair of home games, TCU losing by six to No. 3 Kansas, 86-80, on Friday, December 30, and then defeating Oklahoma by three, 60-57, last Tuesday night.
In the OU game, TCU overcame a 38-34 halftime deficit by limiting the Sooners to just 19 second-half points. The Frogs blocked 13 shots against Oklahoma, the third-most ever and the most since they rejected 16 Rice shots in 2000.
This is a completely different team than the one West Virginia defeated by 20 in last year’s Big 12 tournament.
The starting lineup the Horned Frogs used that day against the Mountaineers featured Karviar Shepherd and Chris Washburn at forwards, and a three-guard lineup consisting of Chauncey Collins, Malique Trent and Brandon Parrish.
Collins departed after the season to play professionally overseas, Trent left the team for personal reasons two days ago while Shepherd, Washburn and Parrish are now coming off the bench this year for Dixon.
In their place is an entirely new lineup this year consisting of forwards Vlad Brodziansky and JD Miller, and a three-guard lineup featuring Jaylen Fisher, Alex Robinson and Kenrich Williams.
Robinson is a Texas A&M transfer who shares team scoring honors with Brodziansky and Robinson, all three averaging 11.2 points per game, while Fisher is the highest-rated recruit ever signed by TCU.
The Arlington, Tennessee, freshman is averaging 9.7 points per game while handing out 62 assists, 14 behind Robinson’s team-leading 76.
“Their two guards, it’s their first year,” said Huggins. “(Fisher) is good. His physicality I think is what makes him. He’s not necessarily faster or quicker than everybody else, but he’s really strong. He does a good job of putting people on his body. He’s a good player.”
TCU is beating teams on the glass by an average of 5.8 rebounds per game, it is limiting its opponents to 41.0 percent shooting from the field and 34.9 percent from 3-point distance, and it is out-scoring the opposition by an average of 14.1 points per game.
“It’s a lot of four-out, penetrate and pitch,” said Huggins of what TCU is doing offensively this year. “That’s not what Jamie did before. He was a big set-play guy.”
West Virginia, meanwhile, is looking to bounce back from Tuesday night’s 77-76 overtime loss at Texas Tech.
The seventh-rated Mountaineers led by seven early in the second half, and overcame a five-point deficit late in the game to send it into overtime, but six missed free throws in the extra session opened the door for the Red Raiders to win the game on a late 3 by Anthony Livingston.
The Red Raiders had the ball handlers to break West Virginia’s full-court pressure and were also successful in penetrating to the basket and pitching to open players for 3-point shots on the wings.
Tech shot 51 percent overall from the floor, including 53.3 percent from behind the arc.
“We weren’t very good,” said Huggins of his half-court defense. “That’s as bad as we’ve been all year. We’ve somehow got to get some consistency in all areas. We’ve got to know how to play.
“They had a bunch of ball handlers and (forward Zach) Smith did a great job (beating pressure),” Huggins continued. “When you can throw it to your power forward and he brings it up the floor … but we didn’t do a very good job once we got them stopped at half court.”
Huggins thought Texas Tech also did an outstanding job of substituting and keeping players fresh against his press. The Mountaineers forced just 13 turnovers - 13 fewer than the 26 per game they were getting before the game.
“With all of that and going two for eight from the foul line in overtime, we still should have won,” added Huggins.
The Mountaineers used a starting lineup consisting of Nathan Adrian, Esa Ahmad and Brandon Watkins at forwards, with Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles Jr. at guards.
That was the third straight game Huggins has gone with this lineup.
Ahmad leads the team in scoring with an average of 12.6 points per game, while three other starters - Adrian (10.4 ppg.), Carter (10.3 ppg.) and Miles (10.1 ppg.) are also averaging double digits.
Saturday’s contest will be Jamie Dixon’s first appearance in the Coliseum since January 30, 2012 when he was coaching at Pitt. The Panthers defeated the Mountaineers that day 72-66. Dixon owns a 5-4 record in the Coliseum during his 13 seasons coaching at Pitt.
TCU is still seeking its first-ever victory against West Virginia, the Frogs going winless in nine meetings against the Mountaineers since the two programs joined the Big 12 in 2012.
The two schools never met on the hardwood prior to that.
The game will tip off at 1 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPNU (Drew Fellios and Reid Gettys). The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG’s coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia and online through WVUsports.com and the mobile app TuneIn.
Family Day tickets, which consists of four tickets and a $25 concession voucher, are still available through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by calling toll-free 1-800-WVU GAME or by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
The WVU Varsity Club is also inviting all former men's basketball players, coaches, assistant coaches and staff personnel back to campus to attend Saturday's game. Those returning will be recognized at halftime.
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