Sunday, December 6
Washington, D.C.
4:30 p.m.
West Virginia University
at
Georgetown
Photo by: Sarah Ramundt
No. 11 West Virginia and Georgetown Meet in Big 12-Big East Battle
December 05, 2020 11:20 AM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – No. 11 West Virginia meets old Big East rival Georgetown Sunday afternoon in Washington, D.C., as part of the Big 12-Big East Battle.
Oklahoma State defeated Marquette in the only game played so far. The Baylor-Seton Hall game scheduled for Nov. 29 was canceled because of COVID issues within the Baylor program and St. John's game scheduled for Saturday in Lubbock was also canceled.
West Virginia lost its inaugural Big 12-Big East Battle game last year against St. John's in Madison Square Garden, 70-68, on a pair of late Red Storm free throws.
The Hoyas, coached by former Georgetown great Patrick Ewing, are off to a 1-1 start with a 70-62 win over UMBC to begin the season and a 78-71 loss to Navy earlier this week.
The virus forced Georgetown to get a late start to preseason practice and the Hoyas have been playing catchup ever since with almost a completely new roster.
Two of last year's key players, center Omer Yurtseven, and guard Mac McClung, are no longer in the program. Yurtseven left early for the NBA Draft and McClung transferred to Texas Tech.
Six-four guard Jahvon Blair and 6-8 wing Jamorko Pickett are Georgetown's two big guns this season. Blair has scored 40 points in the Hoyas' two games while Pickett is scoring at a 13.5 points-per-game clip while averaging seven rebounds.
Pickett and 6-5 senior guard Donald Carey, a Sienna transfer, both have a team-best five 3s so far this year in Georgetown's four-out offense.
"They're pretty much perimeter oriented," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "That's seemingly the wave of the future with one big and four perimeter guys."
Ewing is now in his fourth season at Georgetown after replacing John Thompson III, the son of the iconic late Georgetown coach John Thompson.
The former NBA great posted a 15-17 record last year and has a 50-47 overall mark heading into Sunday's game.
"You know what everybody learns when they take the uniform off and then go and sit in the first chair? You're trying to win, man," Huggins said. "You're going to put the best five guys out there to put you in a position to win."
West Virginia (3-1) is coming off an 87-82 loss to top-ranked Gonzaga on Wednesday night in Indianapolis as part of the Jimmy V Classic.
The Mountaineers had a 39-34 halftime lead and were still leading with less than seven minutes to go before the Zags caught fire.
Junior center Derek Culver led WVU with 18 points and 15 rebounds, the 33rd double-double of his career. Culver leads the Mountaineers with averages of 15.8 points and 11.3 rebounds per game.
"I haven't seen everybody yet, but I've got to think Derek is one of the better bigs in our league, or the best big in our league," Huggins said.
Sophomore guard Miles McBride is contributing 14.8 points per game, while senior guard Taz Sherman averaging 11.8 points per game coming off the bench.
West Virginia (3-1) is still looking to find its outside shooting stroke early in the season. In four games so far, the Mountaineers are connecting on just 31.2% of their 3-point attempts (24 of 77). Huggins is also seeking improvement defensively handling ball screens, which hurt the Mountaineers in the Gonzaga loss and will be a big component of Georgetown's offense on Sunday.
"For the majority of the time I've been in coaching, our guys were so committed to guarding their guy," Huggins said Friday afternoon. "It was a true battle of 'me against you' and we haven't gotten there yet. We've got to do a better job of demanding that."
Sunday's game will be the 53rd meeting between the two schools and the first since the 2014 NIT in Washington, D.C., when the Hoyas defeated the Mountaineers 77-65.
Overall, Georgetown holds a slim 27-25 advantage.
Sunday's game will tip off at 4:30 p.m. and will be played at Georgetown's on-campus facility, McDonough Arena, without fans.
FS1 (Eric Collins and Steve Lavin) will televise the game nationally. Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College radio coverage with Tony Caridi and Jay Jacobs on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app WVU Gameday begins at 3:30 p.m.
Oklahoma State defeated Marquette in the only game played so far. The Baylor-Seton Hall game scheduled for Nov. 29 was canceled because of COVID issues within the Baylor program and St. John's game scheduled for Saturday in Lubbock was also canceled.
West Virginia lost its inaugural Big 12-Big East Battle game last year against St. John's in Madison Square Garden, 70-68, on a pair of late Red Storm free throws.
The Hoyas, coached by former Georgetown great Patrick Ewing, are off to a 1-1 start with a 70-62 win over UMBC to begin the season and a 78-71 loss to Navy earlier this week.
The virus forced Georgetown to get a late start to preseason practice and the Hoyas have been playing catchup ever since with almost a completely new roster.
Two of last year's key players, center Omer Yurtseven, and guard Mac McClung, are no longer in the program. Yurtseven left early for the NBA Draft and McClung transferred to Texas Tech.
Six-four guard Jahvon Blair and 6-8 wing Jamorko Pickett are Georgetown's two big guns this season. Blair has scored 40 points in the Hoyas' two games while Pickett is scoring at a 13.5 points-per-game clip while averaging seven rebounds.
Pickett and 6-5 senior guard Donald Carey, a Sienna transfer, both have a team-best five 3s so far this year in Georgetown's four-out offense.
"They're pretty much perimeter oriented," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "That's seemingly the wave of the future with one big and four perimeter guys."
Ewing is now in his fourth season at Georgetown after replacing John Thompson III, the son of the iconic late Georgetown coach John Thompson.
The former NBA great posted a 15-17 record last year and has a 50-47 overall mark heading into Sunday's game.
"You know what everybody learns when they take the uniform off and then go and sit in the first chair? You're trying to win, man," Huggins said. "You're going to put the best five guys out there to put you in a position to win."
West Virginia (3-1) is coming off an 87-82 loss to top-ranked Gonzaga on Wednesday night in Indianapolis as part of the Jimmy V Classic.
The Mountaineers had a 39-34 halftime lead and were still leading with less than seven minutes to go before the Zags caught fire.
Junior center Derek Culver led WVU with 18 points and 15 rebounds, the 33rd double-double of his career. Culver leads the Mountaineers with averages of 15.8 points and 11.3 rebounds per game.
"I haven't seen everybody yet, but I've got to think Derek is one of the better bigs in our league, or the best big in our league," Huggins said.
Sophomore guard Miles McBride is contributing 14.8 points per game, while senior guard Taz Sherman averaging 11.8 points per game coming off the bench.
West Virginia (3-1) is still looking to find its outside shooting stroke early in the season. In four games so far, the Mountaineers are connecting on just 31.2% of their 3-point attempts (24 of 77). Huggins is also seeking improvement defensively handling ball screens, which hurt the Mountaineers in the Gonzaga loss and will be a big component of Georgetown's offense on Sunday.
"For the majority of the time I've been in coaching, our guys were so committed to guarding their guy," Huggins said Friday afternoon. "It was a true battle of 'me against you' and we haven't gotten there yet. We've got to do a better job of demanding that."
Sunday's game will be the 53rd meeting between the two schools and the first since the 2014 NIT in Washington, D.C., when the Hoyas defeated the Mountaineers 77-65.
Overall, Georgetown holds a slim 27-25 advantage.
Sunday's game will tip off at 4:30 p.m. and will be played at Georgetown's on-campus facility, McDonough Arena, without fans.
FS1 (Eric Collins and Steve Lavin) will televise the game nationally. Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College radio coverage with Tony Caridi and Jay Jacobs on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app WVU Gameday begins at 3:30 p.m.
Players Mentioned
TV Highlights: WVU 81, Lafayette 59
Tuesday, November 18
Ross Hodge | Lafayette Postgame
Monday, November 17
Amir Jenkins, Honor Huff & DJ Thomas | Lafayette Postgame
Monday, November 17
Pitt Game Cinematic Recap
Sunday, November 16
