Wednesday, November 28
Morgantown, W.Va.
6:30 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Rider
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
WVU Continues Homestand Wednesday Night Against Rider
November 27, 2018 04:12 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia resumes its three-game homestand Wednesday night with a midweek Coliseum meeting against Rider, the preseason coaches' pick to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference this season.
The Broncs are 2-1 so far with recent 20-point victories over Coppin State and Wagner after beginning the season with an 84-70 loss at Central Florida.
In its 89-65 win at Wagner, 6-4 guard Jordan Allen made six-of-11 from 3 to finish with a game-high 24 points. The Dover, Delaware, resident is currently second on the team in scoring with an average of 15.7 points per game.
Rider's leading scorer, 6-5 wing Dimencio Vaughn, a high-flying left hander from New York City, is averaging 17.3 points per game and is shooting 60 percent from the floor. He scored 19 and grabbed a team-best seven rebounds in the Wagner win, achieved last Saturday.
"They're good," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "They're experienced. They play great together. They know where each other is going to be when they get in trouble and they rebound it really well for not being overly big."
Coach Kevin Baggett's Broncs have nine of their top 10 players returning from last year's team that won 15 out of 18 games in the MAAC before getting upset by St. Peter's in the postseason tournament.
Rider also lost in the first round of last year's NIT to Oregon, 99-86, although the Broncs led the Ducks at halftime, 44-36.
Vaughn also superb in that game against the Ducks, hitting 11-of-21 from the floor and finishing with a game-high 25 points. The junior is now two years removed from an ACL injury and earned all-MAAC honors last year as a sophomore.
Allen is making 44 percent of his 3-point attempts, hitting 11 in three games so far.
"They shoot a lot of step-in shots because they penetrate so much," Huggins said. "I was really impressed watching them on film."
Rider's third double-digit scorer is Frederick Scott, a 6-8, 223-pound forward from Munster, Indiana. Scott has scored 30 points in three games and is second on the team to Vaughn in rebounding by pulling down 5.3 per game.
Scott began his collegiate career at DePaul.
A couple of other former four-year transfers are also contributing for Rider this year in 6-7 forward Ahmad Gilbert (Minnesota) and 6-1 guard Kimar Williams (Florida International).
Baggett has a 109-90 record in seven seasons at Rider with a 21-win campaign four years ago and a 22-win season a year ago.
In some ways, Wednesday night's Rider game poses similar challenges to what West Virginia faced when it lost to Buffalo in overtime at the Coliseum to begin the season.
Like Buffalo, Rider is a mid-major program with NCAA Tournament aspirations seeking a quality road win over a Power 5 opponent.
"They scheduled a lot more Power 5 people to boost their resume in case they would happen to lose in the (conference) tournament," Huggins said. "They were far and away the best team in their conference. They just got beat in the tournament, which happens.
"We did Albany for that reason," Huggins continued. "Valpo has historically been one of the top two or three teams in their league and these guys are the best team in their league. It's a tough road ahead of us but hopefully it's worthwhile."
West Virginia (3-2) has played much better in its two most recent victories over Valparaiso last Saturday and St. Joseph's in the consolation game of the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
Forwards Esa Ahmad and Sagaba Konate scored career-highs of 30 and 26 points respectively against Valparaiso, Ahmad getting most of his around the glass while Konate stepping out to make five-of-eight from 3-point distance.
Forward Lamont West contributed 11 against Valpo after leading West Virginia with a career-high 27 in the St. Joe's win.
Junior point guard James "Beetle" Bolden has missed the last two games with swelling in his shooting elbow, which has opened up a spot in the starting lineup for freshman Brandon Knapper.
The South Charleston resident scored 9 points and handed out five assists in the St. Joseph's win, and dished out a season-high seven assists in last Saturday's win against the Crusaders.
Huggins said before Wednesday's practice that Bolden should be available for Wednesday night's game.
"Getting Beetle back makes us better," Huggins said.
After committing a season-high 22 turnovers in the Western Kentucky loss, West Virginia has done a much better job handling the basketball in its recent wins against St. Joe's (12 turnovers) and Valparaiso (seven turnovers).
Ahmad (17.0 ppg.), Konate (15.0 ppg.), West (13.4 ppg.) and Bolden (13.3 ppg.) are all averaging double digits for the Mountaineers, which will be facing Rider for the first time at the Coliseum since Nov. 25, 1978 when WVU defeated it 86-66.
Wednesday night's matchup will be the fourth all-time meeting between the two schools, with the Mountaineers owning a 2-1 edge.
"This is going to be a hard game and we can't turn it over like we turned it over earlier in the year," Huggins said. "We're going to have to play."
The contest will tip at 6:30 p.m. and will be televised locally on AT&T Sportsnet (Rob King, Nathan Adrian, Warren Baker and Robby Incmickoski). Out-of-market Mountaineer fans can also watch a livestream of the game for free on WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app TuneIn.
Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG radio coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. on affiliates throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and TuneIn.
The Mountaineers wrap up their current three-game homestand on Saturday afternoon against Youngstown State.
GAME NOTES: WVU graduate Karin Torchia, Rider's senior associate athletic director for external operations, is making the trip with the Broncs to Morgantown for Wednesday night's game; this is her 18thseason at Rider after spending five years working at the MAAC and two at the Atlantic 10 Conference … There are currently three undefeated Big 12 teams (Kansas, Kansas State and Texas Tech) and those three plus 5-1 Texas are ranked in this week's top 25 … Iowa State is 6-1, Oklahoma 5-1, TCU 4-1 while Baylor and Oklahoma State are 4-2 each … OSU, picked last in the preseason coaches' poll, already has a couple of impressive non-conference victories over Memphis and LSU … Kansas has impressive early wins over Michigan State, Marquette and Tennessee; Texas owns wins over Arkansas and Texas; Iowa State has defeated Missouri and Illinois; Texas Tech has victories over USC and Nebraska while Oklahoma has a non-conference win over Florida and Kansas State recently downed Missouri … Huggins said forward Wesley Harris will be available for Wednesday's game after not playing against Valpo for what Huggins termed "a coach's decision."
The Broncs are 2-1 so far with recent 20-point victories over Coppin State and Wagner after beginning the season with an 84-70 loss at Central Florida.
In its 89-65 win at Wagner, 6-4 guard Jordan Allen made six-of-11 from 3 to finish with a game-high 24 points. The Dover, Delaware, resident is currently second on the team in scoring with an average of 15.7 points per game.
Rider's leading scorer, 6-5 wing Dimencio Vaughn, a high-flying left hander from New York City, is averaging 17.3 points per game and is shooting 60 percent from the floor. He scored 19 and grabbed a team-best seven rebounds in the Wagner win, achieved last Saturday.
"They're good," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "They're experienced. They play great together. They know where each other is going to be when they get in trouble and they rebound it really well for not being overly big."
Coach Kevin Baggett's Broncs have nine of their top 10 players returning from last year's team that won 15 out of 18 games in the MAAC before getting upset by St. Peter's in the postseason tournament.
Rider also lost in the first round of last year's NIT to Oregon, 99-86, although the Broncs led the Ducks at halftime, 44-36.
Vaughn also superb in that game against the Ducks, hitting 11-of-21 from the floor and finishing with a game-high 25 points. The junior is now two years removed from an ACL injury and earned all-MAAC honors last year as a sophomore.
Allen is making 44 percent of his 3-point attempts, hitting 11 in three games so far.
"They shoot a lot of step-in shots because they penetrate so much," Huggins said. "I was really impressed watching them on film."
Rider's third double-digit scorer is Frederick Scott, a 6-8, 223-pound forward from Munster, Indiana. Scott has scored 30 points in three games and is second on the team to Vaughn in rebounding by pulling down 5.3 per game.
Scott began his collegiate career at DePaul.
A couple of other former four-year transfers are also contributing for Rider this year in 6-7 forward Ahmad Gilbert (Minnesota) and 6-1 guard Kimar Williams (Florida International).
Baggett has a 109-90 record in seven seasons at Rider with a 21-win campaign four years ago and a 22-win season a year ago.
In some ways, Wednesday night's Rider game poses similar challenges to what West Virginia faced when it lost to Buffalo in overtime at the Coliseum to begin the season.
Like Buffalo, Rider is a mid-major program with NCAA Tournament aspirations seeking a quality road win over a Power 5 opponent.
"They scheduled a lot more Power 5 people to boost their resume in case they would happen to lose in the (conference) tournament," Huggins said. "They were far and away the best team in their conference. They just got beat in the tournament, which happens.
"We did Albany for that reason," Huggins continued. "Valpo has historically been one of the top two or three teams in their league and these guys are the best team in their league. It's a tough road ahead of us but hopefully it's worthwhile."
West Virginia (3-2) has played much better in its two most recent victories over Valparaiso last Saturday and St. Joseph's in the consolation game of the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
Forwards Esa Ahmad and Sagaba Konate scored career-highs of 30 and 26 points respectively against Valparaiso, Ahmad getting most of his around the glass while Konate stepping out to make five-of-eight from 3-point distance.
Forward Lamont West contributed 11 against Valpo after leading West Virginia with a career-high 27 in the St. Joe's win.
Junior point guard James "Beetle" Bolden has missed the last two games with swelling in his shooting elbow, which has opened up a spot in the starting lineup for freshman Brandon Knapper.The South Charleston resident scored 9 points and handed out five assists in the St. Joseph's win, and dished out a season-high seven assists in last Saturday's win against the Crusaders.
Huggins said before Wednesday's practice that Bolden should be available for Wednesday night's game.
"Getting Beetle back makes us better," Huggins said.
After committing a season-high 22 turnovers in the Western Kentucky loss, West Virginia has done a much better job handling the basketball in its recent wins against St. Joe's (12 turnovers) and Valparaiso (seven turnovers).
Ahmad (17.0 ppg.), Konate (15.0 ppg.), West (13.4 ppg.) and Bolden (13.3 ppg.) are all averaging double digits for the Mountaineers, which will be facing Rider for the first time at the Coliseum since Nov. 25, 1978 when WVU defeated it 86-66.
Wednesday night's matchup will be the fourth all-time meeting between the two schools, with the Mountaineers owning a 2-1 edge.
"This is going to be a hard game and we can't turn it over like we turned it over earlier in the year," Huggins said. "We're going to have to play."
The contest will tip at 6:30 p.m. and will be televised locally on AT&T Sportsnet (Rob King, Nathan Adrian, Warren Baker and Robby Incmickoski). Out-of-market Mountaineer fans can also watch a livestream of the game for free on WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app TuneIn.
Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG radio coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. on affiliates throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and TuneIn.
The Mountaineers wrap up their current three-game homestand on Saturday afternoon against Youngstown State.
GAME NOTES: WVU graduate Karin Torchia, Rider's senior associate athletic director for external operations, is making the trip with the Broncs to Morgantown for Wednesday night's game; this is her 18thseason at Rider after spending five years working at the MAAC and two at the Atlantic 10 Conference … There are currently three undefeated Big 12 teams (Kansas, Kansas State and Texas Tech) and those three plus 5-1 Texas are ranked in this week's top 25 … Iowa State is 6-1, Oklahoma 5-1, TCU 4-1 while Baylor and Oklahoma State are 4-2 each … OSU, picked last in the preseason coaches' poll, already has a couple of impressive non-conference victories over Memphis and LSU … Kansas has impressive early wins over Michigan State, Marquette and Tennessee; Texas owns wins over Arkansas and Texas; Iowa State has defeated Missouri and Illinois; Texas Tech has victories over USC and Nebraska while Oklahoma has a non-conference win over Florida and Kansas State recently downed Missouri … Huggins said forward Wesley Harris will be available for Wednesday's game after not playing against Valpo for what Huggins termed "a coach's decision."
Players Mentioned
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