West Virginia NCAA Tournament 101
March 15, 2018 12:41 PM | Men's Basketball
SAN DIEGO - March Madness! It's been synonymous with West Virginia University basketball since the tail end of John Beilein's tenure and continuing with Bob Huggins.
The Mountaineers have made 11 trips to the Big Dance since 2005, reaching the Final Four in 2010, the Elite Eight once under Beilein in 2005, with visits to the Sweet 16 six times, most recently last year.
Before 2005, the bids came in drips and drabs during the 1990s, only in 1992 and 1998. The 80s saw West Virginia produce six teams good enough to reach the NCAA Tournament, but wins then were few and far between - just three, one each in 1982, 1984 and 1989.
WVU basketball was sucked into a black hole in the 1970s when the Mountaineers were unable to secure a single bid, although they came within a basket of making it in 1975 and were close again in 1977.
Five visits were made in the 1960s when West Virginia was competing in the Southern Conference and the bids were limited solely to conference tournament champions.
The Mountaineers advanced to the round of 16 in 1960 and 1963, and experienced first-round departures in 1962, 1965 and 1967.
That was also the norm for West Virginia in the mid-1950s when it was dominating a weak Southern Conference. WVU suffered first-round defeats the first four times it reached the tournament in 1955, 1956, 1957 and 1958 - the '58 loss to Manhattan being one of the biggest upset losses in tournament history.
West Virginia finished the season ranked No. 1 in the country in both major polls before falling to the Jaspars in what was basically a home game for Manhattan in Madison Square Garden.
This was before the NCAA began seeding the tournament in 1979, but if there were seeding back the Mountaineers would have been a No. 1 seed and likely the top-seeded team in the tournament.
Manhattan's tournament run ended a day later when Dartmouth blew the Jaspars out in the regional semifinals.
The late Mickey Furfari, who traveled with the team back then, once recalled the cold, dark, quiet plane ride back to Morgantown and seeing the silhouette of Fred Schaus staring straight ahead and the steam of his breath coming out of his nostrils in rhythmic fashion.
The following year, West Virginia finally removed its "tournament bust" tag by knocking off Dartmouth in a first-round game played in New York City.
An exciting, come-from-behind win over Jack Ramsay's St. Joseph's team in Charlotte, North Carolina, boosted the Mountaineers to their first regional championship game appearance.
WVU had to come back from 18 points down in the second half and the key play was a Ronnie Retton steal and layup off an inbounds pass with 23 seconds left to help preserve West Virginia's 95-92 victory.
That play will forever be remembered in Mountaineer lore.
Another close win, 86-82 over Boston University, gave West Virginia its first-ever trip to the Final Four, played in Louisville, Kentucky.
West Virginia's business manager Lowry Stoops was concerned about unloading the Mountaineers' 250 ticket allotment to the Final Four so he went on the radio after the Boston University win to say fans could purchase tickets at his South Park residence on Sunday morning when the team returned.
To his horror, the line of cars filled with fans wanting tickets stretched across the Westover bridge, and he had to escape through the back door, the late Eddie Barrett once recalled.
Barrett remembered tickets for the two games in Freedom Hall were so tight that the National Association of Basketball Coaches didn't have enough to give to its members, so coaches like John Wooden were forced to sit in the aisles between the seats.
What those coaches and everybody else who packed the arena saw were two memorable semifinal games. West Virginia blew out home-standing Louisville, 94-79, and California knocked off tournament-favorite Cincinnati, 64-58.
The Bearcats' loss eliminated a much-anticipated Oscar Robertson-Jerry West matchup in the NCAA finals.
Cal, as it did against Cincinnati in the semifinals, controlled the tempo and won the game at the end when 6-foot-10-inch center Darrall Imhoff scored the game-clinching basket with 17 seconds left.
That remains the high water mark of West Virginia's NCAA Tournament history.
Fifty-one years later, Bob Huggins' Mountaineers were one game shy of returning to the championship game when they lost to Duke in the national semifinals in Indianapolis. A thrilling, 73-66 victory over second-ranked Kentucky in the regional championship game preceded the Duke loss.
Huggins has the most NCAA Tournament victories of any Mountaineer coach with 11, followed by Fred Schaus (six), Gale Catlett and John Beilein (five) and George King (two).
Bucky Waters lost his only trip to the tournament against fifth-ranked Princeton in 1967.
Overall, West Virginia is 29-28 in 57 tournament games heading into Friday's matchup against Murray State.
Hall of Famer Jerry West has scored the most points in NCAA Tournament play with 275, a 30.6 points per game average, and he also grabbed the most rebounds of any Mountaineer player with 124.
The best field goal shooter in the tournament?
Forward Cam Thoroughman, who made nine of his 10 field goal attempts for 90 percent. Cam was less accurate from the free throw line, however, hitting just 3 of 9.
Da'Sean Butler holds the mark for the best free throw shooting in the tournament by making 35-of-39 for 89.7 percent.
Casey Mitchell, Herbie Brooks, Mike Wolfe, Jim Warren, John Lesher, Chris Leonard, Paul Witting, Donnie Gipson, Rick Dubois, Dave Palmer, Adam Powell, Brandon Watkins, Darrell Pinckney and Jaysean Paige were all perfect from the line among players with fewer than 10 attempts.
Joe Mazzulla, Darris Nichols, John Flowers and Thoroughman have played in the most NCAA Tournament games with 10 each, but only five players have made four tournament appearances during their Mountaineer careers - Flowers, Thoroughman, Jonnie West, Darryl Bryant and Kevin Jones.
Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles Jr. will make it seven when the tournament play begins on Friday.
And finally, the tournament site where West Virginia has played the most NCAA Tournament games?
That would be New York City with six.
The Mountaineers have played three times in Charlotte, and twice in Buffalo, Syracuse, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Greensboro, North Carolina.
West Virginia is making its third appearance in California and its second trip to the West Coast in as many years. West Virginia lost to eventual tournament runner-up Utah in Anaheim in 1998, and fell to second-place Gonzaga in San Jose last year.
The Mountaineers have made 11 trips to the Big Dance since 2005, reaching the Final Four in 2010, the Elite Eight once under Beilein in 2005, with visits to the Sweet 16 six times, most recently last year.
Before 2005, the bids came in drips and drabs during the 1990s, only in 1992 and 1998. The 80s saw West Virginia produce six teams good enough to reach the NCAA Tournament, but wins then were few and far between - just three, one each in 1982, 1984 and 1989.
WVU basketball was sucked into a black hole in the 1970s when the Mountaineers were unable to secure a single bid, although they came within a basket of making it in 1975 and were close again in 1977.
Five visits were made in the 1960s when West Virginia was competing in the Southern Conference and the bids were limited solely to conference tournament champions.
The Mountaineers advanced to the round of 16 in 1960 and 1963, and experienced first-round departures in 1962, 1965 and 1967.
That was also the norm for West Virginia in the mid-1950s when it was dominating a weak Southern Conference. WVU suffered first-round defeats the first four times it reached the tournament in 1955, 1956, 1957 and 1958 - the '58 loss to Manhattan being one of the biggest upset losses in tournament history.
West Virginia finished the season ranked No. 1 in the country in both major polls before falling to the Jaspars in what was basically a home game for Manhattan in Madison Square Garden.This was before the NCAA began seeding the tournament in 1979, but if there were seeding back the Mountaineers would have been a No. 1 seed and likely the top-seeded team in the tournament.
Manhattan's tournament run ended a day later when Dartmouth blew the Jaspars out in the regional semifinals.
The late Mickey Furfari, who traveled with the team back then, once recalled the cold, dark, quiet plane ride back to Morgantown and seeing the silhouette of Fred Schaus staring straight ahead and the steam of his breath coming out of his nostrils in rhythmic fashion.
The following year, West Virginia finally removed its "tournament bust" tag by knocking off Dartmouth in a first-round game played in New York City.
An exciting, come-from-behind win over Jack Ramsay's St. Joseph's team in Charlotte, North Carolina, boosted the Mountaineers to their first regional championship game appearance.
WVU had to come back from 18 points down in the second half and the key play was a Ronnie Retton steal and layup off an inbounds pass with 23 seconds left to help preserve West Virginia's 95-92 victory.
That play will forever be remembered in Mountaineer lore.
Another close win, 86-82 over Boston University, gave West Virginia its first-ever trip to the Final Four, played in Louisville, Kentucky.
West Virginia's business manager Lowry Stoops was concerned about unloading the Mountaineers' 250 ticket allotment to the Final Four so he went on the radio after the Boston University win to say fans could purchase tickets at his South Park residence on Sunday morning when the team returned.
To his horror, the line of cars filled with fans wanting tickets stretched across the Westover bridge, and he had to escape through the back door, the late Eddie Barrett once recalled.
Barrett remembered tickets for the two games in Freedom Hall were so tight that the National Association of Basketball Coaches didn't have enough to give to its members, so coaches like John Wooden were forced to sit in the aisles between the seats.
What those coaches and everybody else who packed the arena saw were two memorable semifinal games. West Virginia blew out home-standing Louisville, 94-79, and California knocked off tournament-favorite Cincinnati, 64-58.The Bearcats' loss eliminated a much-anticipated Oscar Robertson-Jerry West matchup in the NCAA finals.
Cal, as it did against Cincinnati in the semifinals, controlled the tempo and won the game at the end when 6-foot-10-inch center Darrall Imhoff scored the game-clinching basket with 17 seconds left.
That remains the high water mark of West Virginia's NCAA Tournament history.
Fifty-one years later, Bob Huggins' Mountaineers were one game shy of returning to the championship game when they lost to Duke in the national semifinals in Indianapolis. A thrilling, 73-66 victory over second-ranked Kentucky in the regional championship game preceded the Duke loss.
Huggins has the most NCAA Tournament victories of any Mountaineer coach with 11, followed by Fred Schaus (six), Gale Catlett and John Beilein (five) and George King (two).
Bucky Waters lost his only trip to the tournament against fifth-ranked Princeton in 1967.
Overall, West Virginia is 29-28 in 57 tournament games heading into Friday's matchup against Murray State.
Hall of Famer Jerry West has scored the most points in NCAA Tournament play with 275, a 30.6 points per game average, and he also grabbed the most rebounds of any Mountaineer player with 124.
The best field goal shooter in the tournament?
Forward Cam Thoroughman, who made nine of his 10 field goal attempts for 90 percent. Cam was less accurate from the free throw line, however, hitting just 3 of 9.
Da'Sean Butler holds the mark for the best free throw shooting in the tournament by making 35-of-39 for 89.7 percent.
Casey Mitchell, Herbie Brooks, Mike Wolfe, Jim Warren, John Lesher, Chris Leonard, Paul Witting, Donnie Gipson, Rick Dubois, Dave Palmer, Adam Powell, Brandon Watkins, Darrell Pinckney and Jaysean Paige were all perfect from the line among players with fewer than 10 attempts.
Joe Mazzulla, Darris Nichols, John Flowers and Thoroughman have played in the most NCAA Tournament games with 10 each, but only five players have made four tournament appearances during their Mountaineer careers - Flowers, Thoroughman, Jonnie West, Darryl Bryant and Kevin Jones.
Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles Jr. will make it seven when the tournament play begins on Friday.
And finally, the tournament site where West Virginia has played the most NCAA Tournament games?
That would be New York City with six.
The Mountaineers have played three times in Charlotte, and twice in Buffalo, Syracuse, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Greensboro, North Carolina.
West Virginia is making its third appearance in California and its second trip to the West Coast in as many years. West Virginia lost to eventual tournament runner-up Utah in Anaheim in 1998, and fell to second-place Gonzaga in San Jose last year.
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