WVU, Baylor men’s basketball teams set for rematch today
Mountaineers beat Bears 89-68 in Morgantown
WACO, Texas — Veteran West Virginia University head men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins understands winning on the road in the Big 12 is never a ‘walk in the park’. So when his No. 12 Mountaineers (23-6, 11-5 Big 12) held on for a one-point, 61-60, victory over TCU (17-12, 6-10 Big 12) on Saturday, the former-player couldn’t help but laugh.
“Just another walk in the park,” quipped Huggins. “I guess I need to stop saying that, don’t I?”
WVU, which entered Saturday’s game at the remodeled Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, in a three-way tie with Iowa State and Baylor for second place in the conference standing, closes out the road portion of its regular season against the No. 9 Bears today in a 7 p.m. ESPNU televised game in Waco.
The Mountaineers will face a Baylor team (23-6, 10-6 Big 12) coming off of a tough, 72-69, loss at Iowa State and in a must-win situation if it wants to keep its hopes alive for the No. 2 seed when tournament action begins on March 8.
Senior Nathan Adrian tossed in 13 points, hauled down a team-high eight rebounds and dished out five assists while junior Jevon Carter bucketed a team-high 15 points and three steals as the Old Gold and Blue kept their hopes alive for the No. 2 seed in the Big 12’s upcoming postseason tournament.
“He (Adrian) has had a lot of things going on,” added Huggins. “And, he hasn’t been playing that well of late. But, when the game gets physical like it did out there (against TCU), he is generally able to score through the contact.”
Poor shooting from the field (24-of-65) and especially from behind the 3-point line (3-of-14) caused for some tense moments, but ‘Press’ Virginia again proved to be the difference as WVU forced 21 turnovers by the host Horned Frogs turning them into 19 points while the Mountaineers’ bench outscored its host by an 18-7 margin.
“That’s the philosophy behind it (the press),” explained the WVU coach. “That’s been the philosophy for a long time. The key is to get more shots than the team you are playing and that’s what it does when it works.”
Huggins’ decision to go to a 1-3-1 zone in the second half also proved to be a determining factor.
“Sometimes my long term memory is better than my short term memory,” continued the coach. “I thought back to when we played Jamie (Dixon) when he was at Pitt. I thought I had an idea of how he would attack it (the 1-3-1). I thought it could stop their penetration, and it did, and I thought our length would cause them some problems.”
The press will again be a critical part of WVU’s plan on Monday as its first meeting with a then-No. 1 ranked Baylor squad in Morgantown witnessed the players in Old Gold and Blue force 29 miscues by the Bears en route to recording an 89-68 victory.
Adrian led the way with 22 points, six rebounds and three steals, while Carter chipped in 17 points, seven assists and five steals. Brandon Watkins and Tarik Phillip added 11 apiece. Baylor received 10 points each from Joel Lual-Acuil Jr., Al Freeman and Terry Maston.
West Virginia’s starting lineup will again include Adrian and Carter, but the other three slots will see some new faces. Sophomore Esa Ahmad missed his second straight game Saturday with a sore back while junior Elijah Macon has forged his way in front of Watkins for the other starting forward job beside Adrian. The final spot could be Ahmad, if Huggins elects to go ‘big’ against the Bears, or guards Phillip or Daxter Miles Jr.
Baylor will go with its normal lineup of Lual-Acuil and Big 12 Player of the Year candidate Johnathan Motley at the forwards with Manu Lacomte, Ismail Wainwright and Freeman at the guards.
The Bears hold a 7-4 series edge over West Virginia. However, the Mountaineers have won the last three – 69-58 in Waco and 80-69 in Morgantown last season – including their only meeting this season. WVU also captured a 66-64 victory at Baylor on Jan. 28, 2014.
Contact Jim Butta at mountaineersman@outlook.com.