Friday, March 19
Indianapolis, Ind.
9:50 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Morehead State
Photo by: Denny Medley\Big 12 Conference
Mountaineers, Eagles Tip Off NCAA Play in Indianapolis
March 18, 2021 01:40 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sister Jean, the 101-year-old Loyola-Chicago chaplain who became a national sensation in 2018 when her Ramblers reached the Final Four, is back in the news once again.
She's fully vaccinated and is attending this year's NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis. She even held a Zoom meeting with NCAA college basketball reporter Andy Katz to reveal her Final Four picks for this year.
And her choices?
Gonzaga and BYU from the West Coast Conference and Baylor and West Virginia from the Big 12.
Broken down by denomination, Sister Jean's Final Four is comprised of a Catholic, a Mormon and a Baptist school to go along with West Virginia, which is Almost Heaven!
So that's some pretty good mojo for a Mountaineer team that hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2018 when it bowed out to national champion Villanova in the Sweet 16 in Boston.
WVU didn't last very long in the 2019 CBI, and last year's team wasn't able to dance because of COVID-19. That means, with the exception of forward Gabe Osabuohien, these Mountaineers are neophytes when it comes to NCAA Tournament play.
Veteran coach Bob Huggins is not. This is his 25th dance - 10 of them coming at WVU.
He's watched inexperienced teams like the one he had at Cincinnati in 1992 go all the way to the Final Four, and he's seen experienced, savvy squads like the one he had at West Virginia in 2016 get knocked out in the first round.
"I've had some terrible disappointments, and I've had some great wins that other people didn't think was possible," he said Wednesday. "I guess when you've done this as long as some of us have done this, you're going to have lots of ups and downs."
No. 14-seed Morehead State is looking to do to West Virginia what 14-seeded Stephen F. Austin did to the Mountaineers in the Barclays Center five years ago – pull off the big upset.
"You can't predict how these guys are going to react," Huggins said. "It's the biggest stage these guys are ever going to play on, and you hope they react well to it. We've looked at enough film, and we are going to prepare enough to know what we need to do and what we need to prevent them from doing."
Morehead (23-7) comes into Friday's game riding a seven-game winning streak and winning 19 out of its last 20. It knocked off Belmont 86-71 in the Ohio Valley Conference championship game to earn its first NCAA Tournament bid in 10 years.
Its coach, Preston Spradlin, had a 46-69 career record heading into this season, and its best player, 6-foot-10, 235-pound freshman forward Johni Broome, was the eighth player mentioned in Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook's preview of the team.
This is how college basketball's bible described him … "Forward Johni Broome (Florida's Tampa Catholic HS) is a 6-10 freshman forward."
And this is how Bob Huggins describes him ... "I told our guys he reminds me of Chris Bosh. He's got a little push shot he gets away real quick like Chris did, and he's kind of built that way. They were all looking at me like, 'Yeah, sure, Chris Bosh is at Morehead.' And then they watch the film and they're like, 'Yeah, I can see what you're talking about.'"
Broome went from unknown to OVC Freshman of the Year in a span of four months by averaging a team-best 13.9 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. It's not rare for an OVC-level program to have a high-major-level player, Murray State's Ja Morant being Exhibit A, but not necessarily one of Broome's size.
Even under-the-radar guys as big as Broome end up somewhere in the Power 5. He's shooting 57.7% from the floor, 63% from the free throw line and has a team-best 53 blocks.
That compares favorably statistically to West Virginia junior center Derek Culver, who averages 14.6 points and 9.8 rebounds this year. Culver has blocked 33 fewer shots than Broome though.
Still, Huggins anticipates Morehead State doubling down on Culver whenever he gets the ball in the post.
"You are talking about a freshman playing against a junior," Huggins explained. "We've worked on double teams and will work on it some more. Derek has got to find the open guy and pass the ball. He's got to become more of a point guard from there rather than putting his head down and bullying through guys to try and score."
Because Morehead State can throw it close to Broome and get points, Huggins says that has opened things up on the perimeter for guys like DeVon Cooper and Skylar Potter. Both are shooting better than 35% from 3 and are averaging double figures, Cooper at 12.2 and Potter and 11.8.
"They are going to put five guys out there that can score," Huggins said. "They're really good step-in shooters, but so is everybody who plays horse. We've got to do a good job of guarding them, crowding them without fouling, and we've got to do a really good job with the big fella in the post."
Defensively, Huggins said Morehead State plays a version of the pack line defense.
"They do a good job of funneling things to each other," he noted. "They do a great job of gapping everything. As soon as you catch the ball you've got 10 eyes on you. It's very much a shoot-over-top-of-us deal."
That's where guards Miles McBride (15.4 ppg.), Taz Sherman (13.6 ppg.) and Sean McNeil (11.8 ppg.) must step up.
McBride scored 19 in West Virginia's Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal loss to Oklahoma State, but he had managed only five, 10 and 12 in recent games against Kansas State, TCU and Oklahoma State leading up to it.
McNeil has scored just 17 points in his last two games against Oklahoma State, shooting a combined seven-of-24 in those two losses.
Sherman, too, has been a little unpredictable with eight- and four-point performances sandwiching 26-, 20- and 19-point games.
All three must score more consistently if West Virginia wants to make the NCAA Tournament run Sister Jean is expecting.
"Hopefully, we can get them spread with the number of people on the perimeter who can conceivably make shots," Huggins said. "We've got to accentuate our positives and try and stay away from our negatives."
Huggins said the two practices West Virginia had in Morgantown following its Big 12 Tournament loss to Oklahoma State were "very good." He also said the good work has continued in Indianapolis.
Friday's game will tip off at 9:50 p.m. ET at Lucas Oil Stadium and will be televised nationally on truTV (Lisa Byington, Steve Smith and A.J. Ross). Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College radio coverage on affiliates throughout West Virginia will begin at 8:50 p.m.
The NCAA prohibits streaming coverage so the MSN broadcast will not be available on WVUsports.com, TuneIn or the mobile app WVU Gameday for the entire tournament.
Friday's game will be West Virginia's 30th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament, where the Mountaineers own a 31-29 record. WVU has won 20 of its last 32 tournament games and has reached at least the Sweet 16 in eight of its last 12 appearances in 2018, 2017, 2015, 2010, 2008, 2006, 2005 and 1998.
Morehead State is making its ninth NCAA trip and its third since 2009. The Eagles reached the Sweet 16 in 1956 and 1961.
WVU holds a 3-0 record against the Eagles with victories in 2011 in Charleston, in 1981 in Morgantown and in 1980 in Charleston.
She's fully vaccinated and is attending this year's NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis. She even held a Zoom meeting with NCAA college basketball reporter Andy Katz to reveal her Final Four picks for this year.
And her choices?
Gonzaga and BYU from the West Coast Conference and Baylor and West Virginia from the Big 12.
Broken down by denomination, Sister Jean's Final Four is comprised of a Catholic, a Mormon and a Baptist school to go along with West Virginia, which is Almost Heaven!So that's some pretty good mojo for a Mountaineer team that hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2018 when it bowed out to national champion Villanova in the Sweet 16 in Boston.
WVU didn't last very long in the 2019 CBI, and last year's team wasn't able to dance because of COVID-19. That means, with the exception of forward Gabe Osabuohien, these Mountaineers are neophytes when it comes to NCAA Tournament play.
Veteran coach Bob Huggins is not. This is his 25th dance - 10 of them coming at WVU.
He's watched inexperienced teams like the one he had at Cincinnati in 1992 go all the way to the Final Four, and he's seen experienced, savvy squads like the one he had at West Virginia in 2016 get knocked out in the first round.
"I've had some terrible disappointments, and I've had some great wins that other people didn't think was possible," he said Wednesday. "I guess when you've done this as long as some of us have done this, you're going to have lots of ups and downs."
No. 14-seed Morehead State is looking to do to West Virginia what 14-seeded Stephen F. Austin did to the Mountaineers in the Barclays Center five years ago – pull off the big upset.
"You can't predict how these guys are going to react," Huggins said. "It's the biggest stage these guys are ever going to play on, and you hope they react well to it. We've looked at enough film, and we are going to prepare enough to know what we need to do and what we need to prevent them from doing."
Morehead (23-7) comes into Friday's game riding a seven-game winning streak and winning 19 out of its last 20. It knocked off Belmont 86-71 in the Ohio Valley Conference championship game to earn its first NCAA Tournament bid in 10 years.
Its coach, Preston Spradlin, had a 46-69 career record heading into this season, and its best player, 6-foot-10, 235-pound freshman forward Johni Broome, was the eighth player mentioned in Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook's preview of the team.
This is how college basketball's bible described him … "Forward Johni Broome (Florida's Tampa Catholic HS) is a 6-10 freshman forward."
And this is how Bob Huggins describes him ... "I told our guys he reminds me of Chris Bosh. He's got a little push shot he gets away real quick like Chris did, and he's kind of built that way. They were all looking at me like, 'Yeah, sure, Chris Bosh is at Morehead.' And then they watch the film and they're like, 'Yeah, I can see what you're talking about.'"
Broome went from unknown to OVC Freshman of the Year in a span of four months by averaging a team-best 13.9 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. It's not rare for an OVC-level program to have a high-major-level player, Murray State's Ja Morant being Exhibit A, but not necessarily one of Broome's size.
Even under-the-radar guys as big as Broome end up somewhere in the Power 5. He's shooting 57.7% from the floor, 63% from the free throw line and has a team-best 53 blocks.
That compares favorably statistically to West Virginia junior center Derek Culver, who averages 14.6 points and 9.8 rebounds this year. Culver has blocked 33 fewer shots than Broome though.
Still, Huggins anticipates Morehead State doubling down on Culver whenever he gets the ball in the post.
"You are talking about a freshman playing against a junior," Huggins explained. "We've worked on double teams and will work on it some more. Derek has got to find the open guy and pass the ball. He's got to become more of a point guard from there rather than putting his head down and bullying through guys to try and score."
Because Morehead State can throw it close to Broome and get points, Huggins says that has opened things up on the perimeter for guys like DeVon Cooper and Skylar Potter. Both are shooting better than 35% from 3 and are averaging double figures, Cooper at 12.2 and Potter and 11.8.
"They are going to put five guys out there that can score," Huggins said. "They're really good step-in shooters, but so is everybody who plays horse. We've got to do a good job of guarding them, crowding them without fouling, and we've got to do a really good job with the big fella in the post."
Defensively, Huggins said Morehead State plays a version of the pack line defense.
"They do a good job of funneling things to each other," he noted. "They do a great job of gapping everything. As soon as you catch the ball you've got 10 eyes on you. It's very much a shoot-over-top-of-us deal."
That's where guards Miles McBride (15.4 ppg.), Taz Sherman (13.6 ppg.) and Sean McNeil (11.8 ppg.) must step up.
McBride scored 19 in West Virginia's Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal loss to Oklahoma State, but he had managed only five, 10 and 12 in recent games against Kansas State, TCU and Oklahoma State leading up to it.McNeil has scored just 17 points in his last two games against Oklahoma State, shooting a combined seven-of-24 in those two losses.
Sherman, too, has been a little unpredictable with eight- and four-point performances sandwiching 26-, 20- and 19-point games.
All three must score more consistently if West Virginia wants to make the NCAA Tournament run Sister Jean is expecting.
"Hopefully, we can get them spread with the number of people on the perimeter who can conceivably make shots," Huggins said. "We've got to accentuate our positives and try and stay away from our negatives."
Huggins said the two practices West Virginia had in Morgantown following its Big 12 Tournament loss to Oklahoma State were "very good." He also said the good work has continued in Indianapolis.
Friday's game will tip off at 9:50 p.m. ET at Lucas Oil Stadium and will be televised nationally on truTV (Lisa Byington, Steve Smith and A.J. Ross). Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College radio coverage on affiliates throughout West Virginia will begin at 8:50 p.m.
The NCAA prohibits streaming coverage so the MSN broadcast will not be available on WVUsports.com, TuneIn or the mobile app WVU Gameday for the entire tournament.
Friday's game will be West Virginia's 30th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament, where the Mountaineers own a 31-29 record. WVU has won 20 of its last 32 tournament games and has reached at least the Sweet 16 in eight of its last 12 appearances in 2018, 2017, 2015, 2010, 2008, 2006, 2005 and 1998.
Morehead State is making its ninth NCAA trip and its third since 2009. The Eagles reached the Sweet 16 in 1956 and 1961.
WVU holds a 3-0 record against the Eagles with victories in 2011 in Charleston, in 1981 in Morgantown and in 1980 in Charleston.
Players Mentioned
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