Saturday, December 22
Morgantown, W.Va.
Noon
West Virginia University
vs
Jacksonville State
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
United Bank Playbook - Jacksonville State
December 21, 2018 12:13 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A home meeting with Jacksonville State awaits West Virginia on Saturday afternoon before the Mountaineers hit the pause button on games for another eight days.
The Mountaineers (6-4) are coming off a disappointing 83-70 loss to Rhode Island last Sunday in the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic at Mohegan Sun Arena.
West Virginia overcame some poor shooting to take a three-point lead early in the second half before coming unglued.
Some empty possessions and poor shot choices allowed Rhode Island to expand its one-point lead to 10 with 2:39 remaining. The loss spoiled junior forward Wesley Harris' career-high 18 point performance and Mountaineer coach Bob Huggins was disappointed afterward that his teammates didn't get him the basketball more often.
"That's been a year-long problem," Huggins said. "We don't pass the ball. We don't pass it very well and we don't pass it often enough.
"Our shooting percentage moves up drastically the more we pass the ball," Huggins noted. "We need to pass the ball and when we have mismatches we need to take advantage of them."
Junior forward Sagaba Konate didn't play in the game, the second contest he's missed this year because of recurring knee issues.
Huggins indicated Friday he's not sure what Konate's status will be for Saturday's game against the Gamecocks.
"He's got to practice," Huggins said. "We can't play him when he doesn't practice. Until he gets back in practice and does what everybody else does there is absolutely no reason to put him into the game."
West Virginia will have another player dressed for Saturday's game, however. Earlier this week, Huggins announced that 6-foot-10-inch, 255-pound freshman forward Derek Culver has been reinstated to team activities. Culver was suspended before West Virginia's trip to Conway, South Carolina to play in the Myrtle Beach Invitational. He has not appeared in a game this season.
Huggins isn't sure if Culver will get into the game on Saturday.
"We'll have to see how it goes. Our problem really hasn't been (the center position). (Andrew Gordon) fouls too much and we've got to get him to stop fouling so much but (Gordon and Logan Routt) have been solid. That's not our problem," he said.
Handling the basketball, getting better looks and playing hard for 40 minutes continue to be his main concerns.
The Jacksonville State team West Virginia is facing Saturday afternoon is coming off a 64-50 victory over North Alabama on Tuesday night and has won seven of its last eight.
Six-seven forward Jason Burnell led the Gamecocks with 19 points and he currently leads them in scoring with an average of 14.4 points per game.
Six-three guard Marlon Hunter is the only other Jacksonville State player averaging double figures at 11.1 points per game, but the Gamecocks (7-4) are well balanced with six different players averaging at least 9.1 points per game.
"They're a good team," Huggins said. "They were second in the OVC a year ago and we obviously played Murray State in the NCAA Tournament and they were very good. They actually split with Jacksonville State during the regular season and then Murray State beat them in the championship and (Jacksonville State has) everybody back from that team."
Huggins also has a great deal of respect for Jacksonville State coach Ray Harper, now in his third season there with a 50-32 record. Harper shows a 481-159 overall record in his 20thseason of college basketball.
"I have big time respect for him," Huggins said. "He was at Kentucky Wesleyan when they won the national Division II championship. He went to Oklahoma City and spent a lot of time there with Abe Lemons. I don't know if Abe helped him with Xs and Os but he did get funnier. He's done a heck of a job at Jacksonville State.
Saturday's game will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
AT&T Sportsnet will televise the game locally. The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG will provide radio coverage on affiliates throughout the state and also online via WVUsports.com and the WVU Gameday mobile app.
Tipoff is set for noon.
Briefly: According to the WVU game notes, Jacksonville State will be the 177thdifferent team to play against West Virginia at the WVU Coliseum … Senior forward Esa Ahmad leads the team in scoring with an average of 14.8 points per game … Ahmad, despite shooting just 19.2 percent from 3, is also the team's top field goal shooter among regulars at 47.2 percent … Through 10 games, West Virginia has 16 more turnovers than assists (163 to 147) … The Mountaineers turned the ball over 15 times in the loss to Rhode Island after a season-high, 26-turnover performance in a 10-point home win against rival Pitt on Dec. 8 … Huggins said he was able to get in a couple of two-a-day practices earlier this week with the players out of classes for Christmas recess … He said it was an opportunity to work on fundamentals and clean up some of the things that have slipped a little bit … Huggins was in Cincinnati earlier this week to celebrate the Bearcats' all-time Final Four teams during their game against UCLA, "There are some great people there and there are some people I've got great respect for and they asked me to come back," he said. "It was really centered on the coaches that took them to the Final Four and I'm the only one still alive" … West Virginia players spent a portion of their day at WVU Medicine Children's on Thursday bringing some holiday cheer, "We do a lot," Huggins said. "They've started this competition among the teams to see who can do the most community service and we've won it every year. That's a great deal, but it's a very, very small part of what they do" … James Haring, former head manager at WVU from 2010-2014, serves as Jacksonville State's coordinator of basketball operations.
Friday Sound
The Mountaineers (6-4) are coming off a disappointing 83-70 loss to Rhode Island last Sunday in the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic at Mohegan Sun Arena.
West Virginia overcame some poor shooting to take a three-point lead early in the second half before coming unglued.
Some empty possessions and poor shot choices allowed Rhode Island to expand its one-point lead to 10 with 2:39 remaining. The loss spoiled junior forward Wesley Harris' career-high 18 point performance and Mountaineer coach Bob Huggins was disappointed afterward that his teammates didn't get him the basketball more often.
"That's been a year-long problem," Huggins said. "We don't pass the ball. We don't pass it very well and we don't pass it often enough.
"Our shooting percentage moves up drastically the more we pass the ball," Huggins noted. "We need to pass the ball and when we have mismatches we need to take advantage of them."
Junior forward Sagaba Konate didn't play in the game, the second contest he's missed this year because of recurring knee issues.
Huggins indicated Friday he's not sure what Konate's status will be for Saturday's game against the Gamecocks.
"He's got to practice," Huggins said. "We can't play him when he doesn't practice. Until he gets back in practice and does what everybody else does there is absolutely no reason to put him into the game."
West Virginia will have another player dressed for Saturday's game, however. Earlier this week, Huggins announced that 6-foot-10-inch, 255-pound freshman forward Derek Culver has been reinstated to team activities. Culver was suspended before West Virginia's trip to Conway, South Carolina to play in the Myrtle Beach Invitational. He has not appeared in a game this season.
Huggins isn't sure if Culver will get into the game on Saturday.
"We'll have to see how it goes. Our problem really hasn't been (the center position). (Andrew Gordon) fouls too much and we've got to get him to stop fouling so much but (Gordon and Logan Routt) have been solid. That's not our problem," he said.
Handling the basketball, getting better looks and playing hard for 40 minutes continue to be his main concerns.
The Jacksonville State team West Virginia is facing Saturday afternoon is coming off a 64-50 victory over North Alabama on Tuesday night and has won seven of its last eight.
Six-seven forward Jason Burnell led the Gamecocks with 19 points and he currently leads them in scoring with an average of 14.4 points per game.
Six-three guard Marlon Hunter is the only other Jacksonville State player averaging double figures at 11.1 points per game, but the Gamecocks (7-4) are well balanced with six different players averaging at least 9.1 points per game.
"They're a good team," Huggins said. "They were second in the OVC a year ago and we obviously played Murray State in the NCAA Tournament and they were very good. They actually split with Jacksonville State during the regular season and then Murray State beat them in the championship and (Jacksonville State has) everybody back from that team."
Huggins also has a great deal of respect for Jacksonville State coach Ray Harper, now in his third season there with a 50-32 record. Harper shows a 481-159 overall record in his 20thseason of college basketball.
"I have big time respect for him," Huggins said. "He was at Kentucky Wesleyan when they won the national Division II championship. He went to Oklahoma City and spent a lot of time there with Abe Lemons. I don't know if Abe helped him with Xs and Os but he did get funnier. He's done a heck of a job at Jacksonville State.
Saturday's game will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
AT&T Sportsnet will televise the game locally. The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG will provide radio coverage on affiliates throughout the state and also online via WVUsports.com and the WVU Gameday mobile app.
Tipoff is set for noon.
It's the holiday season! ???? ???? pic.twitter.com/d8itnHMgsT
— WVU Basketball (@WVUhoops) December 20, 2018
Briefly: According to the WVU game notes, Jacksonville State will be the 177thdifferent team to play against West Virginia at the WVU Coliseum … Senior forward Esa Ahmad leads the team in scoring with an average of 14.8 points per game … Ahmad, despite shooting just 19.2 percent from 3, is also the team's top field goal shooter among regulars at 47.2 percent … Through 10 games, West Virginia has 16 more turnovers than assists (163 to 147) … The Mountaineers turned the ball over 15 times in the loss to Rhode Island after a season-high, 26-turnover performance in a 10-point home win against rival Pitt on Dec. 8 … Huggins said he was able to get in a couple of two-a-day practices earlier this week with the players out of classes for Christmas recess … He said it was an opportunity to work on fundamentals and clean up some of the things that have slipped a little bit … Huggins was in Cincinnati earlier this week to celebrate the Bearcats' all-time Final Four teams during their game against UCLA, "There are some great people there and there are some people I've got great respect for and they asked me to come back," he said. "It was really centered on the coaches that took them to the Final Four and I'm the only one still alive" … West Virginia players spent a portion of their day at WVU Medicine Children's on Thursday bringing some holiday cheer, "We do a lot," Huggins said. "They've started this competition among the teams to see who can do the most community service and we've won it every year. That's a great deal, but it's a very, very small part of what they do" … James Haring, former head manager at WVU from 2010-2014, serves as Jacksonville State's coordinator of basketball operations.
Friday Sound
Players Mentioned
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