Mountaineers, Huskies to Meet
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia faces Connecticut in a Big East tournament second round game Wednesday at noon at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Connecticut advanced by defeating DePaul 81-67 earlier today. The Huskies got 25 from Jeremy Lamb and 19 off the bench from freshman Ryan Boatright to keep its NCAA tournament hopes alive. Connecticut (19-12) had lost nine out of 12 at one point this year with coach Jim Calhoun sidelined with back problems. Calhoun returned to the bench last Saturday to help Connecticut defeat Pitt 74-65, snapping a two-game losing streak, and the Huskies bagged their second win in a row Tuesday afternoon against DePaul. “I feel fine,” said Calhoun. “I wanted to come back for these kids and we’ve got two in a row and now we’re looking forward to playing (Wednesday).” “I think everyone said at the beginning of the year that they were the most talented team in the country,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins of Connecticut. “Everybody says Lamb is a lottery pick, Andre Drummond is a lottery pick; (Alex) Oriakhi is a pro and people are telling me (Shabazz) Napier could be a pro. I think when you look at their personnel they’ve got terrific personnel.” West Virginia earned a first round bye after beating South Florida last Saturday and DePaul upsetting Seton Hall. The Mountaineers (19-12) have won two in a row heading into postseason play after dropping seven of nine from Jan. 25 to Feb. 28. Earlier this year in Hartford, Connecticut overcame a 10-point second half deficit to defeat West Virginia 64-57. Lamb led the Huskies with 25 points and Drummond contributed 20 points and 11 rebounds – Lamb and Drummond combining to score 22 of UConn’s final 28 points as the Huskies outscored the Mountaineers 28-11 over the remaining 11 minutes of the game. Kevin Jones led West Virginia with 22 points. The Mountaineers had a tough night shooting the basketball against the Huskies, hitting 21 of 65 for 32.3 percent, including only 26.7 percent in the second half. Last Saturday against South Florida West Virginia also had a tough time making baskets, shooting 29 percent for the game and just 25 percent in the second half. It was the eighth time this year that West Virginia has failed to shoot at least 40 percent from the floor in a game. “What we learned was that we can play bad on offense and still win if we guard,” said Huggins of his team’s six-point victory at South Florida on Saturday. Overall, the Mountaineers are shooting 44.5 percent for the season. Jones, who earned first team all-Big East honors but failed to be named player of the year despite leading the conference in scoring and rebounding, is averaging 20 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. “Obviously I thought KJ would be the player of the year,” said Huggins. “When you lead the league in scoring and rebounding and you take seven freshmen and a transfer, win 19 games, and really maybe could have won a whole bunch more, I thought he was phenomenal.” Truck Bryant, a third team all-Big East choice, shows averages of 17.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, while junior forward Deniz Kilicli possesses averages of 10.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. The Mountaineers and Huskies have met 20 times with UConn holding a 15-5 advantage in the series. The only time the two have played in the Big East tournament was in 2008 when the Mountaineers came away with a 78-72 victory. Tipoff is set for noon and the game will be televised on ESPN. |
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 WVUSportsBuzz |
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