West Virginia has not played a basketball game since opening the season nine days ago but, beginning with tonight's game against The Citadel at the Charleston Civic Center, the Mountaineers will play four games in six days.
West Virginia has not played a basketball game since opening the season nine days ago but, beginning with tonight's game against The Citadel at the Charleston Civic Center, the Mountaineers will play four games in six days.
By facing the Bulldogs (1-1) in today's 7 p.m. game, the Mountaineers (1-0) will fulfill what coach Bob Huggins sees as a need to play and, besides, he said the Civic Center atmosphere has always been agreeable.
"I think our guys love playing down here,'' Huggins said Monday night at the Charleston Marriott. "We've had great crowds. We had a great crowd here last year and the other times we've played here. And from what I understand, we should have a great crowd [tonight]. It's been great for us.''
The Mountaineers will do so without 6-foot-9 sophomore forward Devin Ebanks, who averaged 10.5 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds last year but has been absent from the team for what Huggins has called "personal issues.''
"He's not going to be here,'' he said. When pressed, the coach said, "I'd rather not discuss it.''
After tonight's game, the Mountaineers will bus to Cincinnati for a flight to Anaheim, Calif., where they will oppose Long Beach State at 2 p.m. Thursday and will play again Friday and Sunday.
The Mountaineers, ranked No. 8 in this week's Associated Press poll, opened the season with an 83-60 victory over Loyola (Md.) Nov. 15 and likely will be tested this week.
"We need to play some games, and I think [tonight's game] gives us an opportunity to play in front of a great crowd and then go to Anaheim,'' said Huggins. "Long Beach is good. They're picked to win their league. They're probably going to be an NCAA tournament team. That'll be a good challenge for us, as will the rest of the tournament field.''
Junior point guard Joe Mazzulla, who missed the season opener because of a shoulder injury, is expected to be available tonight. His playing status, however, is uncertain.
"He's back,'' said Huggins. "It's just a matter of when we're going to get him in the game.''
The Mountaineer coach would like to see another solid effort from 6-9 freshman forward Dan Jennings, who made his college debut against Loyola with nine points and 12 rebounds.
West Virginia has not played a basketball game since opening the season nine days ago but, beginning with tonight's game against The Citadel at the Charleston Civic Center, the Mountaineers will play four games in six days.
By facing the Bulldogs (1-1) in today's 7 p.m. game, the Mountaineers (1-0) will fulfill what coach Bob Huggins sees as a need to play and, besides, he said the Civic Center atmosphere has always been agreeable.
"I think our guys love playing down here,'' Huggins said Monday night at the Charleston Marriott. "We've had great crowds. We had a great crowd here last year and the other times we've played here. And from what I understand, we should have a great crowd [tonight]. It's been great for us.''
The Mountaineers will do so without 6-foot-9 sophomore forward Devin Ebanks, who averaged 10.5 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds last year but has been absent from the team for what Huggins has called "personal issues.''
"He's not going to be here,'' he said. When pressed, the coach said, "I'd rather not discuss it.''
After tonight's game, the Mountaineers will bus to Cincinnati for a flight to Anaheim, Calif., where they will oppose Long Beach State at 2 p.m. Thursday and will play again Friday and Sunday.
The Mountaineers, ranked No. 8 in this week's Associated Press poll, opened the season with an 83-60 victory over Loyola (Md.) Nov. 15 and likely will be tested this week.
"We need to play some games, and I think [tonight's game] gives us an opportunity to play in front of a great crowd and then go to Anaheim,'' said Huggins. "Long Beach is good. They're picked to win their league. They're probably going to be an NCAA tournament team. That'll be a good challenge for us, as will the rest of the tournament field.''
Junior point guard Joe Mazzulla, who missed the season opener because of a shoulder injury, is expected to be available tonight. His playing status, however, is uncertain.
"He's back,'' said Huggins. "It's just a matter of when we're going to get him in the game.''
The Mountaineer coach would like to see another solid effort from 6-9 freshman forward Dan Jennings, who made his college debut against Loyola with nine points and 12 rebounds.
"Hopefully, Danny's going to rebound it the way he did in the first game,'' said Huggins. "He's rebounded very consistently in practice. His offensive skills are getting better. He's getting more comfortable with the way we're trying to play.''
Against Loyola, the Mountaineers found themselves in a 31-31 halftime tie and needed an 11-0 second-half run to open some daylight.
The Bulldogs, Huggins noted, are capable of presenting similar problems.
"They have a 7-foot center who played at Washington and went [to The Citadel] for grad school. He's kind of taken over the low-post block,'' he said. "And the other four guys played a year ago and played well a year ago. I think their point guard is really good. He gives them great penetration, and when you get great penetration, it frees up guys to rebound. We're looking forward to a good game.''
The Citadel's 7-foot Joe Wolfinger averaged 15 points and grabbed 10.5 rebounds in the Bulldogs' first two games, a 64-45 victory over Kenyon College and 61-60 loss to Charleston Southern.
Huggins touched on other subjects:
On Big East Conference basketball: "Everybody's saying the league's down. Yeah, the league's down. We only have six teams in the Top 25. Every other league in America would be doing cartwheels if they had six teams in the Top 25. And it's a down year for us. I think the teams that were maybe not as good a year ago have gotten a whole lot better. When you look at the people who were in the bottom half of the league - look at what South Florida's done, Cincinnati's playing really well, Rutgers has played well, Seton Hall's tremendously improved. I think the bottom part of our league has taken a quantum step forward.''
On the Mountaineers' depth in light of Ebanks' absence, Mazzulla's injury and the 20-game suspension of freshman Deniz Kilicli: "We're fine. I told them that if you're on scholarship here, you ought to be able to contribute. Otherwise, you probably shouldn't have been put on scholarship. I think our younger guys are getting better. I think they're learning a little more. We're more comfortable putting them in the game. Our older guys are kind of getting back to maybe where they were before.''
On senior forward Da'Sean Butler, who's 33 points shy of 1,500 career points: "I think before it's all said and done, I think Da'Sean will be mentioned as one of the eight or 10 best players ever to play at WVU.''
Reach Mike Whiteford at 304-348-7948 or mikewhitef...@wvgazette.com.
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you say that if a player is on scholarship then they should be able to contribute.
OK. I agree. Then...play them!