Huggins Upbeat About His Young Mountaineer Team

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Bob Huggins had a good feeling about his young West Virginia University men's basketball team before its three-game tour of Spain.

Ten days later, he feels even better about them.

"It's totally different watching this group," Huggins said via teleconference Wednesday morning. "One, their togetherness and having the ability to rely on each other, and it wasn't easy to play hard because those gyms were hot."

The good feeling Mountaineer fans had for Huggins' team near the end of last year after the way it played in victories over TCU and Iowa State, and then its 79-74 upset of NCAA runner-up Texas Tech in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals, was almost erased when Coastal Carolina put up 109 points on the WVU Coliseum scoreboard in the CBI semifinals last March.

One hundred and nine points is just not going to cut it with Huggins so he went back to basics this summer, which meant teaching his guys how to stay in front of their man.

He said it still wasn't great in Spain, but it's getting better.

"Coming back, that's an area we've got to spend a lot of time with," Huggins admitted.

West Virginia won all three contests by comfortable margins, although the final game against the Barcelona All-Stars was its stiffest test.

At halftime, West Virginia led by just eight.

Competition-wise, it was probably a step below what the team usually experiences for a typical college game, which is about what Huggins anticipated.

"When you go over there at this time of year you're not sure what you are going to get and generally speaking, the American pros don't go over that soon and some of their better players take a little bit more time off," he admitted.

Huggins was without an important piece as well. Visa issues kept touted 6-foot-9 forward Oscar Tshiebwe from making the trip, which meant senior Logan Routt got most of the post work alongside emerging sophomore Derek Culver.

"We didn't give up on it until the day of or the day before we left," Huggins said of Tshiebew's absence. "It's not going to be a problem. It was that particular time. Their reasons for getting in and not getting in don't always stay the same."

Nevertheless, Culver was his usual self by averaging a double-double (16 points and 10 rebounds), while Routt's production was somewhat surprising considering what he did during his junior season when he averaged just 2.3 points and 2.1 boards per game.

The 6-11 senior actually led the team in scoring with 51 points while pulling down 23 rebounds, good for a 7.7 average. He also shot a team-best 65.6 percent from the floor.

"He played really well," Huggins said. "He played hard, and he really ran the floor, which we were really pleased about. Derek is running the floor better and Logan has kind of labored running the floor and he was great."

Freshman guard Miles McBride was another player who gave the Mountaineers a big boost. The Cincinnati resident scored 31 points, handed out 11 assists and matched Culver with a team-best 10 steals. McBride, at 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, gives West Virginia some physicality in the backcourt that it was lacking last year.

"He's physical enough to guard somebody bigger than him, but he can also guard people smaller than him," Huggins said. "I thought he had a great trip."

Informed observers compare McBride to former Mountaineer guard Tarik Phillip, who recently signed a professional contract to play in Turkey.

Huggins also got solid backcourt work from returning players Chase Harler, Jordan McCabe, Jermaine Haley and Brandon Knapper, as well as newcomers Taz Sherman and Sean McNeil.

All of them shot the ball well at times in Spain.

"We've got a lot of guys that can make shots," Huggins noted. "Emmitt (Matthews Jr.) started out making them, but then he struggled a little bit. Chase shot it pretty consistent. Sean shot it pretty consistent. Taz shot it pretty consistent and Jordan made shots the last couple of games.

"I don't think that's going to be a big area of concern," he added. "I can't imagine all of them not making shots on a given day."

This team is in a much better place than it was four months ago when its season ended with a thud for its 21^stdefeat of the year.

And, Huggins will have more pieces to work with, which also makes him excited.

"Particularly in light of the fact that we're going to add Oscar to this group," he said.

Most of the players are away from campus until the Aug. 20 when they reassemble for the first day of the fall semester the next day. In the meantime, Huggins said the practice facility floor will be getting a makeover.

"Then we can go back to what we were doing before," he concluded.

Spain Tour Individual Leaders

Points
Logan Routt - 51
Derek Culver - 48
Chase Harler - 39
Emmitt Matthews Jr. - 39

Rebounds
Derek Culver - 30
Logan Routt - 23
Jermaine Haley - 20
Miles McBride - 17

Assists
Jordan McCabe - 21
Jermaine Haley - 13
Miles McBride - 11
Emmitt Matthews Jr. - 8

Field Goal Percentage
Logan Routt - .656
Derek Culver - .586
Miles McBride - .538
Sean McNeil - .500
Jermaine Haley - .500

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Derek Culver

Jermaine Haley

Chase Harler

Brandon Knapper

Emmitt Matthews Jr.

Miles McBride

Jordan McCabe

Sean McNeil

Logan Routt

Taz Sherman

Oscar Tshiebwe

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