Saturday, January 27
Morgantown, W.Va.
7:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Kentucky
Photo by: TCU photo
Mountaineers, Wildcats Renew Sporadic Hoop Series Saturday
January 26, 2018 12:30 PM | Men's Basketball
| Team Stats |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Points Per Game | 77.1 | 81.1 |
| Points Against | 69.6 | 65.8 |
| Field Goal % | 47.9 | 42.5 |
| Rebounds Per Game | 38.8 | 39.9 |
| Assists Per Game | 14.1 | 15.6 |
| Blocks Per Game | 5.4 | 5.2 |
| Steals Per Game | 6.2 | 9.3 |
| Streak | W1 | L1 |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - One team is trying to discover itself. The other is trying to rediscover itself, which makes Saturday night's West Virginia-Kentucky game so compelling to college basketball fans.
The team trying to discover itself, Kentucky, snapped its two-game losing streak with Tuesday night's 78-65 victory against Mississippi State.
John Calipari's young, 15-5 Wildcats show losses this year to Kansas, UCLA, Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida and have dropped out of the top 25 for the first time since 2014 - one year before UK nearly ran the table when it won 38 straight games until being upset by Wisconsin in the national semifinals.
West Virginia senior guards Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles Jr. are well-versed in how good that Kentucky team was, both of them taking part in the Mountaineers' 78-39 defeat at the hands of the Wildcats in Cleveland, Ohio in the regional semifinals that year.
Bob Huggins is another, and he knows it's just a matter of time before Calipari gets this year's team jelling like his others.
"I'm amazed that Cal can take guys and get them to play together the way they do and have them organized the way he has them organized in such a short period of time," Huggins said. "I've got three-year guys who still don't know what they're doing."
It looked like Huggins' guys had things all figured out a couple of weeks ago when they soared to No. 2 in the polls. West Virginia, now 16-4, was coming off an impressive 89-76 victory over Oklahoma to improve its overall record to 14-1.
A close win three nights later over Baylor boosted it to 15-1. But then came Texas Tech, followed by Kansas and then TCU - loss, loss and loss.
In between was a 35-point home victory over Texas.
Against the Horned Frogs, West Virginia went nearly 10 agonizing minutes without scoring a basket. Top-10 teams simply don't do that, which is why Huggins has been scratching his head so much lately.
Are the Mountaineers really playing like a top-10 team right now?
"We haven't played near as well as what we have before," Huggins admitted. "I don't know what we are, to be honest with you."
Two days before facing West Virginia, Calipari is naturally singing a different tune.
"West Virginia is really good," he said during Thursday morning's SEC coaches teleconference. "They're really physical. Defensively, they press, disrupt, deny - they're a top-five team. I know there are some other teams maybe ranked above them, but I'm going to tell you, in a one-game contest they're hard to beat."
You have to wonder if Calipari just got done watching the Oklahoma or TCU tape.
If the West Virginia team that gave Trae Young fits shows up Saturday, or the one that smothered second-ranked Virginia back on Dec. 5, or the one that came back from 16 points down in the second half to beat Missouri on Nov. 27, or the one that buried Texas last Saturday afternoon at the Coliseum, then Calipari's young Wildcats are going to have their hands full.
That's the team Huggins would like to rediscover.
If it's the one that couldn't throw it in the ocean against TCU last Monday night, or the one that couldn't shoot fish in a barrel against Baylor 17 days ago, or the one that was unable to hold on to a double-digit lead against Kansas, then Saturday night could have 14,000 rabid West Virginia basketball fans scratching their heads a little harder.
Saturday night's loser won't see its season end the way the last three West Virginia-Kentucky meetings ended in 2010, 2011 and 2015.
And the winner won't have its season made, either.
But a good performance Saturday night could set one or the other down the path toward much greater success in March, when the games really mean something.
"We probably have the challenge of challenges playing who we're playing and how they're playing … on their court where they just don't lose," Calipari said. "I'm excited for the challenge, and I'm excited for our team to see where we are right now. Thank goodness we're still in January and we still have a solid month and a half to get this thing right."
That same amount of time also applies to Huggins' Mountaineers.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN (Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas and Maria Taylor).
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's coverage begins at 6 p.m. on affiliates throughout the state as well as online through WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app TuneIn.
Saturday night's game is a sellout. WVU fans are encouraged to take part in Stripe-The-Stadium with fans sitting in even-numbered sections urged to wear gold and fans sitting in odd-numbered sections urged to wear blue.
All WVU students are encouraged to wear gold.
Pregame notes: ESPN College GameDay is making just its second appearance in Morgantown on Saturday … The last time the popular college basketball show was at the Coliseum happened in 2009 when the Mountaineers lost to Louisville, 62-59, on Senior Night … West Virginia and Kentucky will be meeting for the 21st time since 1924 with the Wildcats holding a 15-5 record … This will be just Kentucky's third-ever appearance in Morgantown and only its second at the WVU Coliseum … The only other time UK played in this arena was on Dec. 7, 1970, a 106-100 Kentucky victory … four of the 20 prior games occurred in postseason play, including the last three in the NCAA Tournament … Saturday's game will be John Calipari's first appearance at the Coliseum since his No. 1-ranked UMass team rallied from 18 points down with four minutes to go in regulation to defeat West Virginia, 97-94, in overtime … Calipari's Minutemen were 4-3 in his seven appearances in Morgantown, winning four of the last five … Calipari is just 3-8 against West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, but he has claimed the last two in NCAA Tournament play in 2015 and 2011 … West Virginia's record in Big 12/SEC Challenge games improved to 1-3 following last year's 81-77 victory over Texas A&M … Two years ago, WVU lost at Florida after falling at home to LSU in 2015 and at Missouri in 2014 … West Virginia also participated twice in the Big East/SEC Challenge where it was 1-1, defeating Auburn in 2007 and losing to Mississippi State in 2011 … The Big 12 leads the all-time challenge 25-15, but the SEC managed a 5-5 split last year … Kentucky has four players averaging double figures and all of them are freshmen: Kevin Knox (14.6 ppg.), Hamidou Diallo (12.7 ppg.), Shai Alexander-Gilgeous (12.1 ppg.) and PJ Washington (11.3 ppg.) … The Wildcats are averaging 77.1 points and allowing 69.6 points per contest … Kansas (Kentucky loss) and Texas A&M (Kentucky win) are the two common opponents these two teams have faced so far this year … As of Nov. 8, 2017, Kentucky had 27 guys playing in the NBA, many former one-and-done players, but there is a possibility this year's team could return to UK intact next season … Senior guard Jevon Carter continues to lead West Virginia in scoring with an average of 16.9 points per game … He is also the team's leading scorer in conference action with a 15 points-per-game average … Emerging sophomore forward Sagaba Konate is averaging 13.3 points, 10.7 rebounds and 5.0 blocks over his last three games … Sophomore guard James "Beetle" Bolden is the only Mountaineer player to appear in all 20 games this season without making a start … He is averaging 9.4 points per game off the bench … Following Saturday's game, WVU returns to conference play on Wednesday night at Iowa State.
Players Mentioned
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