Friday, November 10
Ramstein, Germany
6:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Texas A&M
WVU Lifts Lid on 2018 Friday Night in Germany
November 09, 2017 05:07 PM | Men's Basketball
So much for dipping your toe into the water!
Bob Huggins' 11th-ranked West Virginia University men's basketball team is diving head-first into 2018 with a season-opening meeting against 25th-ranked Texas A&M on Friday evening at Ramstein Air Base in Ramstein-Meisenbach, Germany.
It will be West Virginia's most difficult season-opening affair since the Mountaineers traveled to Spokane, Washington, to play 19th-ranked Gonzaga to lift the lid on 2013, or perhaps going back to Nov. 26, 1996 when Gale Catlett's team opened the season at 24th-ranked Minnesota.
Facing a team the caliber of Texas A&M means the early-season experimenting that usually occurs in openers will have to wait.
"I'd like to play more, but I can't put people in that are going to hurt the cause," Huggins, beginning his 11th season at WVU, said earlier this week.
West Virginia dropped its not-so-private scrimmage game to Purdue, 89-77, last Sunday, according to a Jeff Goodman tweet, and Huggins noted afterward that he wasn't too thrilled with the team's defense or its rebounding.
"I tried to find something to tell you that we didn't need to work on and I stayed up most of the night watching tape and I couldn't find anything," he joked. "JC (Jevon Carter) was pretty good. I kind of liked watching him, but we didn't rebound it. That's not good.
"And in wins a year ago, I think we averaged like 39 deflections, and we got 21," Huggins added. "(Purdue is) good and they practiced all summer so they were kind of in midseason form. They had all of their sets in and everything, which, obviously, we didn't."
But the most alarming aspect for Huggins on Sunday was his team's inability to be disruptive with its full-court pressure defense, which has been West Virginia's calling card since its resurgence as a top-10 contender three years ago.
Losing Nathan Adrian at the top of the press, veteran players Elijah Macon and Brandon Watkins in the back and experienced guards Tarik Phillip and Teyvon Myers on the wings is giving Huggins a lot to think about with the press.
He was still scratching his head Monday afternoon when he met with media.
"Am I allowed to say it sucks?" he asked, "because I found out it sucks. Twenty-one deflections and 11 by one guy … that's not much of a press."
So, does that mean Huggins will pivot to something else on Friday, or will he continue to use it as he has in the past?
That's one of several intriguing aspects to Friday night's game.
Another is the early-season suspension of potential lottery pick Robert Williams for Texas A&M, and one of the Big 12's top returning wing players in West Virginia's Esa Ahmad.
The 6-foot-10-inch Williams wasn't expected to return to College Station following his freshman season, choosing instead to enter his name into the NBA Draft. But he's back, and when he returns to the court will give the Aggies a formidable presence in the paint.
Ahmad displayed flashes of brilliance during his sophomore season in 2017, such as his game-high 27 points in an 85-69 blowout victory over top-ranked Kansas at the WVU Coliseum last January. He is expected to miss the first half of the season for failing to meet NCAA eligibility requirements.
Therefore, we could be seeing much stronger versions of both teams later in the year.
In the meantime, both will have to make do with the players they have. For West Virginia that means sophomores Lamont West and Wesley Harris playing the wings with 6-foot-8-inch sophomore Sagaba Konate at center, and for Texas A&M that means 6-foot-9-inch D.J. Hogg playing center in place of the shot-blocking Williams.
"(Hogg) shoots it so much better (than Williams) from 3," Huggins said. "They're talented. Billy (Kennedy has) done a great job."
Jevon Carter was a big factor in last year's 81-77 victory over Texas A&M in Morgantown, scoring a team-high 19 points and grabbing a team-best nine rebounds.
Carter's scoring, combined with A&M's turnovers, led to a 20-point lead for the Mountaineers early in the second half, but poor decision making, defensive lapses and scattershot free throw shooting nearly caused a 13-point meltdown with 2:36 remaining.
Guard Admon Gilder (24 points) and center Tyler Davis (19 points and 18 rebounds) were problems for the Mountaineers in last year's game. Both are expected in Texas A&M's starting lineup Friday night.
Huggins remembers them and that game very well.
"We about gave it away," he recalled. "We had control of the game and we didn't do a very good job down the stretch."
Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. EST with ESPN (Karl Ravech, Seth Greenberg and Jay Williams) televising the game nationally.
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's pregame coverage begins at 5 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online through WVUsports.com and the mobile app TuneIn.
Bob Huggins' 11th-ranked West Virginia University men's basketball team is diving head-first into 2018 with a season-opening meeting against 25th-ranked Texas A&M on Friday evening at Ramstein Air Base in Ramstein-Meisenbach, Germany.
It will be West Virginia's most difficult season-opening affair since the Mountaineers traveled to Spokane, Washington, to play 19th-ranked Gonzaga to lift the lid on 2013, or perhaps going back to Nov. 26, 1996 when Gale Catlett's team opened the season at 24th-ranked Minnesota.
Facing a team the caliber of Texas A&M means the early-season experimenting that usually occurs in openers will have to wait.
"I'd like to play more, but I can't put people in that are going to hurt the cause," Huggins, beginning his 11th season at WVU, said earlier this week.
West Virginia dropped its not-so-private scrimmage game to Purdue, 89-77, last Sunday, according to a Jeff Goodman tweet, and Huggins noted afterward that he wasn't too thrilled with the team's defense or its rebounding.
"I tried to find something to tell you that we didn't need to work on and I stayed up most of the night watching tape and I couldn't find anything," he joked. "JC (Jevon Carter) was pretty good. I kind of liked watching him, but we didn't rebound it. That's not good.
"And in wins a year ago, I think we averaged like 39 deflections, and we got 21," Huggins added. "(Purdue is) good and they practiced all summer so they were kind of in midseason form. They had all of their sets in and everything, which, obviously, we didn't."
But the most alarming aspect for Huggins on Sunday was his team's inability to be disruptive with its full-court pressure defense, which has been West Virginia's calling card since its resurgence as a top-10 contender three years ago.
Losing Nathan Adrian at the top of the press, veteran players Elijah Macon and Brandon Watkins in the back and experienced guards Tarik Phillip and Teyvon Myers on the wings is giving Huggins a lot to think about with the press.
He was still scratching his head Monday afternoon when he met with media.
"Am I allowed to say it sucks?" he asked, "because I found out it sucks. Twenty-one deflections and 11 by one guy … that's not much of a press."
So, does that mean Huggins will pivot to something else on Friday, or will he continue to use it as he has in the past?
That's one of several intriguing aspects to Friday night's game.
Another is the early-season suspension of potential lottery pick Robert Williams for Texas A&M, and one of the Big 12's top returning wing players in West Virginia's Esa Ahmad.
The 6-foot-10-inch Williams wasn't expected to return to College Station following his freshman season, choosing instead to enter his name into the NBA Draft. But he's back, and when he returns to the court will give the Aggies a formidable presence in the paint.
.@CoachHuggs coaching up the Green Machine during today's Military Pick-Up game at @RamsteinAirBase...stressing to cut down on the turnovers. #larrywhatarewedoin pic.twitter.com/DfqB0OmNiD
— WVU Basketball (@WVUhoops) November 9, 2017
Ahmad displayed flashes of brilliance during his sophomore season in 2017, such as his game-high 27 points in an 85-69 blowout victory over top-ranked Kansas at the WVU Coliseum last January. He is expected to miss the first half of the season for failing to meet NCAA eligibility requirements.
Therefore, we could be seeing much stronger versions of both teams later in the year.
In the meantime, both will have to make do with the players they have. For West Virginia that means sophomores Lamont West and Wesley Harris playing the wings with 6-foot-8-inch sophomore Sagaba Konate at center, and for Texas A&M that means 6-foot-9-inch D.J. Hogg playing center in place of the shot-blocking Williams.
"(Hogg) shoots it so much better (than Williams) from 3," Huggins said. "They're talented. Billy (Kennedy has) done a great job."
Jevon Carter was a big factor in last year's 81-77 victory over Texas A&M in Morgantown, scoring a team-high 19 points and grabbing a team-best nine rebounds.
Carter's scoring, combined with A&M's turnovers, led to a 20-point lead for the Mountaineers early in the second half, but poor decision making, defensive lapses and scattershot free throw shooting nearly caused a 13-point meltdown with 2:36 remaining.
Guard Admon Gilder (24 points) and center Tyler Davis (19 points and 18 rebounds) were problems for the Mountaineers in last year's game. Both are expected in Texas A&M's starting lineup Friday night.
Huggins remembers them and that game very well.
"We about gave it away," he recalled. "We had control of the game and we didn't do a very good job down the stretch."
Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. EST with ESPN (Karl Ravech, Seth Greenberg and Jay Williams) televising the game nationally.
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's pregame coverage begins at 5 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online through WVUsports.com and the mobile app TuneIn.
Players Mentioned
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