Sunday, December 1
Morgantown, W.Va.
2:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Rhode Island
Photo by: Katie MacCrory
Mountaineers, Rams to Meet Sunday in Morgantown
November 30, 2019 02:08 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Fresh off its Cancun Challenge championship game victory over Wichita State on Wednesday night, West Virginia returns to the court Sunday afternoon to face Rhode Island at the WVU Coliseum.
The Rams are 5-2 so far under second-year coach David Cox.
Rhode Island shows victories over LIU, Alabama, Nicholls State, North Texas and Manhattan, and losses on the road at Maryland and LSU.
Basically, the same Rhode Island players who defeated West Virginia 83-70 last year at Mohegan Sun Arena will be facing the Mountaineers once again on Sunday.
Guard Fatts Russell, who scored a team-high 18 points with five assists, is leading the Rams this year with an average of 19.6 points per game.
Shooting guard Jeff Dowtin, who also dropped 18 on the Mountaineers last year, is second on the team in scoring with an average of 15 points per game.
Rhode Island's third-leading scorer, 6-6 sophomore guard Tyrese Martin, came off the bench to score 7 points in last year's win.
"They're really good," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said of Rhode Island's backcourt. "Are they the best we've faced so far this year? They very well could be. (Russell and Dowtin) can score at all levels. They can finish around the glass. They can both put it on the floor and both can hit it from deep. They're pretty well-rounded offensively."
Russell is small in stature standing 5-feet-10 inches and weighing just 165 pounds, but Huggins said he more than makes up for that with his skill level.
"He's explosive and I think he's a kid that grew up in the city (Philadelphia) playing against bigger guys and probably older guys a whole lot," Huggins said.
Six-eight forward Cyril Langeville, who tallied 15 points and six rebounds in the West Virginia game, shows averages of 10 points and 10.7 rebounds so far this season.
And Rhode Island's other athletic big, 6-8 Jermaine Harris, is also back and sports averages of 5.0 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. He was another player who had some success in last year's win over West Virginia with 11 points and three boards.
In a 93-79 victory over Alabama earlier this year, Rhode Island got 22 points from Russell and 21 points from Dowtin on 9-of-11 shooting. The Rams shot 52.4 percent from the floor and manufactured 33 points off of 22 Crimson Tide turnovers.
"They'll 1-2-2 press, they'll 2-2-1 a little bit but that's primarily when they've been behind," Huggins said. "They're just so guard-oriented that they're going to play a little faster."
Meanwhile, the undefeated Mountaineers are looking to go 7-0 to begin a season for the first time since 2016 when they won 26 games and reached NCAA Tournament play. This year, fabulous freshman forward Oscar Tshiebwe has really made a difference around the glass with averages of 12.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, most of it bundled up in three terrific performances against Pitt, Boston University and Wichita State.
Six-ten sophomore forward Derek Culver has also been a force in the paint with averages of 8.8 points and 7.7 rebounds, while athletic wing Emmitt Matthews Jr. is contributing 10 points and five rebounds per contest.
Senior guard Jermaine Haley has been WVU's most consistent performer dating back to the latter part of last season and is averaging 11.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
West Virginia is currently outrebounding its opponents by an average of nearly 10 boards per contest and grabbed 17 more rebounds than Wichita State during last Wednesday's 75-63 win.
Tshiebwe scored 19 points and grabbed 18 rebounds against the Shockers to earn most valuable performer honors for the tournament.
Freshman guard Miles "Deuce" McBride was tremendous in WVU's semifinal game victory over Northern Iowa on Tuesday night when he came off the bench to score 18 points to lead a 15-point second half comeback.
McBride is averaging 7.2 points while handing out a team-best 18 assists.
Sunday's game will tip off at 2 p.m. and will be televised locally by AT&T Sportsnet (Rob King, Warren Baker and Robby Incmikoski). Out-of-market fans will be able to watch a livestream of the game for free through WVUsports.com.
The Mountaineer Sports Network's statewide radio coverage with Tony Caridi and Jay Jacobs begins at 1 p.m.
Rhode Island and West Virginia once played annually from 1981 until 1995 when the Mountaineers were in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
The Rams' last visit to Morgantown was in 2004 for an NIT game that West Virginia won 79-72.
Family Day tickets are still available and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
The Rams are 5-2 so far under second-year coach David Cox.
Rhode Island shows victories over LIU, Alabama, Nicholls State, North Texas and Manhattan, and losses on the road at Maryland and LSU.
Basically, the same Rhode Island players who defeated West Virginia 83-70 last year at Mohegan Sun Arena will be facing the Mountaineers once again on Sunday.
Guard Fatts Russell, who scored a team-high 18 points with five assists, is leading the Rams this year with an average of 19.6 points per game.
Shooting guard Jeff Dowtin, who also dropped 18 on the Mountaineers last year, is second on the team in scoring with an average of 15 points per game.
Rhode Island's third-leading scorer, 6-6 sophomore guard Tyrese Martin, came off the bench to score 7 points in last year's win.
"They're really good," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said of Rhode Island's backcourt. "Are they the best we've faced so far this year? They very well could be. (Russell and Dowtin) can score at all levels. They can finish around the glass. They can both put it on the floor and both can hit it from deep. They're pretty well-rounded offensively."
Russell is small in stature standing 5-feet-10 inches and weighing just 165 pounds, but Huggins said he more than makes up for that with his skill level.
"He's explosive and I think he's a kid that grew up in the city (Philadelphia) playing against bigger guys and probably older guys a whole lot," Huggins said.
Six-eight forward Cyril Langeville, who tallied 15 points and six rebounds in the West Virginia game, shows averages of 10 points and 10.7 rebounds so far this season.
And Rhode Island's other athletic big, 6-8 Jermaine Harris, is also back and sports averages of 5.0 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. He was another player who had some success in last year's win over West Virginia with 11 points and three boards.
In a 93-79 victory over Alabama earlier this year, Rhode Island got 22 points from Russell and 21 points from Dowtin on 9-of-11 shooting. The Rams shot 52.4 percent from the floor and manufactured 33 points off of 22 Crimson Tide turnovers.
"They'll 1-2-2 press, they'll 2-2-1 a little bit but that's primarily when they've been behind," Huggins said. "They're just so guard-oriented that they're going to play a little faster."
Meanwhile, the undefeated Mountaineers are looking to go 7-0 to begin a season for the first time since 2016 when they won 26 games and reached NCAA Tournament play. This year, fabulous freshman forward Oscar Tshiebwe has really made a difference around the glass with averages of 12.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, most of it bundled up in three terrific performances against Pitt, Boston University and Wichita State.
Six-ten sophomore forward Derek Culver has also been a force in the paint with averages of 8.8 points and 7.7 rebounds, while athletic wing Emmitt Matthews Jr. is contributing 10 points and five rebounds per contest.
Senior guard Jermaine Haley has been WVU's most consistent performer dating back to the latter part of last season and is averaging 11.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
West Virginia is currently outrebounding its opponents by an average of nearly 10 boards per contest and grabbed 17 more rebounds than Wichita State during last Wednesday's 75-63 win.
Tshiebwe scored 19 points and grabbed 18 rebounds against the Shockers to earn most valuable performer honors for the tournament.
Freshman guard Miles "Deuce" McBride was tremendous in WVU's semifinal game victory over Northern Iowa on Tuesday night when he came off the bench to score 18 points to lead a 15-point second half comeback.
McBride is averaging 7.2 points while handing out a team-best 18 assists.
Sunday's game will tip off at 2 p.m. and will be televised locally by AT&T Sportsnet (Rob King, Warren Baker and Robby Incmikoski). Out-of-market fans will be able to watch a livestream of the game for free through WVUsports.com.
The Mountaineer Sports Network's statewide radio coverage with Tony Caridi and Jay Jacobs begins at 1 p.m.
Rhode Island and West Virginia once played annually from 1981 until 1995 when the Mountaineers were in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
The Rams' last visit to Morgantown was in 2004 for an NIT game that West Virginia won 79-72.
Family Day tickets are still available and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
Players Mentioned
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