Sunday, December 16
Uncasville, Conn.
1:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Rhode Island
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Mountaineers Resume Play Sunday Against Rhode Island
December 14, 2018 11:22 AM | Men's Basketball
| Tale of the Tape |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Points Per Game | 69.4 | 81.1 |
| Points Against | 63.4 | 72.9 |
| Field Goals Per Game | 25.0 | 26.6 |
| Field Goal Attempts Per Game | 62.7 | 61.1 |
| Field Goal Percentage | .399 | .435 |
| 3-Point Field Goals Per Game | 4.3 | 8.8 |
| 3-Point Field Goal Attempts Per Game | 21.1 | 25.9 |
| 3-Point Field Goal Percentage | .203 | .339 |
| Free Throws Per Game | 15.1 | 19.2 |
| Free Throw Attempts Per Game | 22.0 | 27.3 |
| Free Throw Percentage | .688 | .703 |
| Rebounds Per Game | 42.3 | 42.8 |
| Assists Per Game | 10.6 | 15.2 |
| Steals Per Game | 7.7 | 6.1 |
| Turnovers Per Game | 12.3 | 16.4 |
| Blocks Per Game | 4.3 | 5.8 |
The West Virginia-Rhode Island contest is part of a three-game weekend Basketball Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase being put on by the Naismith Hall of Fame.
Huggins and his staff have had this week to contemplate last Saturday's 69-59 victory over Pitt at the Coliseum which saw their players treat the basketball like a lit stick of dynamite. West Virginia turned the ball over an astonishing 26 times against the Panthers.
Equally astonishing was the fact that the Mountaineers mishandled the basketball that poorly and still managed to beat their No. 1 rival by a double-digit margin.
Huggins said earlier this week it's been difficult getting his inexperienced guards to take better care of the basketball.
"We're trying to get them to throw it to the guy with the same color shirt they have on and keep it between the black lines," he said. "That's been a struggle."
West Virginia's assist-to-turnover ratio for some of its top players who handle the ball most is very telling: Esa Ahmad (19 to 30), Brandon Knapper (21 to 21), Beetle Bolden (22 to 17), Sagaba Konate (11 to 17), Wesley Harris (11 to 12) and Jermaine Haley (10 to 10).
The Mountaineers (6-3) are turning the ball over at a 16.4 per-game clip, which is clearly not a good recipe for success when they begin Big 12 play three weeks from now.
One area of play that is improving for West Virginia is its defensive intensity. Huggins said the Mountaineers played their best defensive game of the season against the Panthers and that's ultimately why WVU won by such a comfortable margin despite the turnovers.
Konate blocked a season-high seven shots against Pitt and is now the school career record holder with 191. He has 22 blocks this season.
West Virginia also controlled the glass against the Panthers by out-rebounding them 41-33. The Mountaineers are out-rebounding their opposition 42.8 to 36.3 so far this year.
"With each practice and each game we're getting better," Huggins said. "I thought our intensity for the Pitt game was very good and our young guys are learning. The more games we play and the more practices we have I think the better we will get."
Huggins is seeking additional improvement this Sunday against a Rhode Island team in the midst of transition under new coach David Cox, who stepped in when Danny Hurley took the Connecticut job last March following the Rams' upset victory over Oklahoma in last year's NCAA Tournament.
Cox spent four seasons with Hurley at Rhode Island and also once worked on Jamie Dixon's staff at Pitt. He grew up in the Washington, D.C. area following Georgetown and Maryland and coached some of the top AAU teams and players in the Capital region before moving up to the college game.
Cox's Rhode Island team this year is completely different than the one that won a combined 51 games the last two seasons under Hurley.
"We lost a lot from last year's team - five seniors," Cox admitted. "We have five new roles and we have four freshmen that are actually in our rotation so we're just looking for daily growth as we approach conference play."
Rhode Island (4-3) took a step in the right direction last Saturday when it won at Holy Cross 79-63. The Rams shot a season-high 49.1 percent from the floor and got 19 points each from sophomore guard Fatts Russell and junior forward Cyril Langevine.
Langevine, a 6-8, 225-pounder, is Rhode Island's best inside player and one of the top inside players in the Atlantic 10 this season. He is averaging a double-double (15.3 ppg. and 11.3 rpg.) while shooting a team-best 54.3 percent from the field.
Rhode Island's next best inside player is freshman Jermaine Harris, a four-star prospect from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, rated the nation's 77th-best recruit last year. Harris is off to a slow start this year with averages of 4.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, but Cox said he is improving with each game.
"I expect him to be an impact player by the time we hit conference play," Cox said. "The game is starting to slow down for him. He's started every game for us."
Six-three junior point guard Jeff Dowtin has been Rhode Island's most consistent offensive player averaging a team-best 16.6 points and 3.9 assists per game. But he's shooting just 23.3 percent from 3-point distance, which is actually much better than Russell's 16.3 percent shooting accuracy from triple distance.
As a team, the Rams are shooting a frigid 20.3 percent from 3 and 39.9 percent overall.
Rhode Island's four victories so far this year were against Bryant, Harvard, Brown and Holy Cross and its three losses were to College of Charleston, Stony Brook and Providence.
West Virginia will travel to Connecticut on Friday afternoon and will have a workout on Saturday before touring the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.
"We're excited about this," Huggins said. "We played in one of the first ones in Springfield when I was at Cincinnati and I think it's important that our guys understand the history of the game, particularly in light of the fact that we have three former players in the hall of fame and I was fortunate enough to come this year when Rod Thorn was put in the hall of fame.
"So I think it's important that our guys understand the history and tradition that West Virginia basketball brings."
Sunday's game will tip at 1 p.m. and will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network (Jason Horowitz and Steve Lappas).
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's radio coverage will begin at noon on affiliates throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app West Virginia Gameday, available for download on iTunes and Google Play.
Following Sunday's game, West Virginia has two more non-conference tilts against Jacksonville State on Dec. 22 and against Lehigh on Dec. 30, both at the Coliseum, before opening Big 12 play against undefeated and 11th-ranked Texas Tech on Jan. 2 in Morgantown.
Thursday's Bob Huggins Show, Live From Kegler's
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballRoss Hodge | Lehigh Postgame
Sunday, November 09
Brenen Lorient & Harlan Obioha | Lehigh Postgame
Sunday, November 09
TV Highlights: WVU 73, Campbell 65
Friday, November 07
Ross Hodge | Campbell Postgame
Thursday, November 06
