Huggins likes upside of Puerto Rico trip

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Before Bob Huggins departed for San Juan, Puerto Rico earlier this week, he was careful to explain all the advantages there are to taking his West Virginia basketball team away for a few days.

The competition will be good, the time together a bonding experience and the experience of preparing for opponents on short notice valuable. Also, playing three games in four days will accelerate the Mountaineers' preparation for the rest of the season.

Still, there is a qualification that goes along with all of that. Huggins was also asked point blank if what West Virginia gains from the tournament will still be considered a success if the Mountaineers do not actually win it.

"No,'' he said.

Still, just playing in the Puerto Rico Shootout that begins with West Virginia's 11:30 a.m. game today against Davidson has an upside even if the 1-0 Mountaineers aren't the 4-0 Mountaineers when they return.

"It's good competition and it gets us away from here and it's a road [trip],'' Huggins said. "I thought California was good for us last year, and I think this will be good for us. It puts you in a situation where you have to play back to back.''

Last year, West Virginia went to Anaheim, Calif., and won three games rather handily in winning the 76 Classic. That was part of an 11-0 start that was the beginning of a 31-7 season that culminated in the Mountaineers' first Final Four appearance in more than half a century.

"I thought the competition was good [in Anaheim],'' Huggins said. "We didn't play anybody we thought we were going to play, but I thought it was good.''

The Mountaineers could be in for the same this week in San Juan. Last year, if Huggins thought about winning in Anaheim, he envisioned having to face Long Beach State, Clemson and then perhaps UCLA, Minnesota or Butler. But most of those teams lost and West Virginia beat Long Beach, Texas A&M and Portland.

In Puerto Rico, the headliners are probably Vanderbilt, Minnesota and No. 8 North Carolina. West Virginia plays the Vanderbilt-Nebraska winner or loser in Friday's second round, while North Carolina and Minnesota are in the opposite bracket with Hofstra and Western Kentucky.

How all of that plays out is anyone's guess, but even if West Virginia doesn't wind up playing the best teams in the tournament - either because of a WVU loss or defeats by the others - the experience is still worthwhile.

"Honestly, the way [the 76 Classic] turned out I thought was pretty good,'' Huggins said. "Look at the Big East tournament when we played Cincinnati. All of our preparation was to get ready for Louisville. It was the same [in Anaheim] because we didn't think we were going to play Texas A&M. It's just good preparation for you.''

The one certainty, though, is that today's tournament opener is against Davidson. West Virginia last played the Wildcats in the 2008 Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden, but Stephen Curry was on that team and scored 27 in a 68-65 Davidson win.This Davidson team is in stark contrast to that, if for no other reason than it lacks Curry. The Wildcats have three starters back from a 16-15 team, but they were picked in the middle of the Southern Conference pack in the preseason. Two sophomores, 6-foot-10 forward Jake Cohen and 6-4 guard J.P. Kuhlman, were picked to the preseason all-league team, and the only senior on the roster is point guard Brendan McKillop.

McKillop is the son of 22nd-year head coach Bob McKillop, whose older son Matt is an assistant coach.

"They're going to try to make it a half-court game,'' Huggins said of the Wildcats, who are 0-1 after losing 69-64 at Penn last Saturday. "Their big guys can run the floor pretty well, but they're going to pack it in and make us make perimeter shots. And they run good offense.

"They do a lot of things that you have to guard, and they always put guys on the floor that can shoot the ball.''

# Tournaments such as this one are typically not attended well. At most there are likely to be a few hundred fans for most games, although Huggins said he thinks WVU will be represented, and North Carolina always travels well.

And Minnesota?

"If I was in Minnesota, I'd go,'' Huggins said.

# If West Virginia wins today, the Mountaineers play the Vanderbilt-Nebraska winner at 12:30 p.m. Friday. A loss puts WVU into a 3 p.m. game against the Vanderbilt-Nebraska loser.

Vanderbilt and Nebraska play at 1:30 p.m. today, followed by Hofstra-North Carolina at 5 p.m. and Minnesota-Western Kentucky at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday is a day off and then the schedule on Sunday begins at 10:30 a.m. and ends with the title game at 7:30 p.m.

 

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? The West Virginia Mountaineer men?s basketball team will begin the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Tournament in San Juan against a Davidson team that will not look exactly the same as they did when the Mountaineers fell to the Wildcats 68-65 back in 2008.

The biggest change in Davidson from then and now? Stephen Curry.

Curry, a second-team All-American during the 2008-2009 season, lit up the Mountaineers for 27 points and 10 assists during their first-ever meeting at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

But both teams look vastly different this time around, as the Mountaineers are without Da?Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks from the first meeting on December 9, 2008.

West Virginia and Davidson will meet for the second time ever on Thursday, but things won?t be the same as they were during the first go-around. WVU head coach Bob Huggins knows what to expect from yet another scrappy mid-major opponent.

?They?re going to try to make it half court. Their big people do get out and run pretty well, but they?re going to try and pack it in and make sure we make perimeter shots. And they run good offense. They pass the ball very well ? they?re very unselfish. They?re going to try and throw it close ? their big guys are a very large part of what they do and then when you try to help too much on their bigs then they make shots,? said Huggins. ?And they do a lot of things ? they run motion, but they?ll ball screen out of it; they?ll curl it; they?ll fade it; they?ll down screen it. So they do a lot of things that you have to guard ? then they always put guys on the floor who can shoot the ball.?

Davidson suffered a loss in their season opener last Saturday when the Wildcats fell to Penn 69-64. Senior point guard Brendan McKillop tallied 12 points in the loss and forward Clint Mann had a team-high seven rebounds in the losing effort.

The Wildcats offer a young squad, with mostly freshman and sophomores to go with one senior and four juniors on the roster. Brendan McKillop and J.P. Kuhlman are the two best players on Davidson?s roster this season. McKillop averaged 10.2 points and Kuhlman tallied 12.6 points per game last year. They?re a traditional shooting team, as even the big men for the Wildcats can step back and shoot the three.

From an outsider?s perspective, San Juan, Puerto Rico may be the type of place where college basketball players could venture away from the task at hand. The warm weather and beautiful beaches of San Juan make it a tempting tournament to be a part of, but for WVU guard Truck Bryant, it will be strictly business as usual.?It?s going to be a great trip, great weather,? said Bryant. ?Good to get out of town for a little bit, but at the end of the day it?s a business trip ? not to have fun.?

The Mountaineers played in a similar early season tournament last year when they traveled out to Anaheim, Cali. for the 76 Classic. In that tournament, WVU knocked off Long Beach State, Texas A&M and Portland on their way to the championship trophy.

WVU head coach Bob Huggins likes the makeup of the early season tournaments for several reasons.

?It?s good competition ? it gets us away from here,? said Huggins. ?It?s a road game. I thought California was good for us last year and I think this will be good for us. It puts you in a tournament atmosphere where you play back-to-back ? I think it?s good.?

West Virginia was able to shoot a sizzling 66 percent in the first half during their last game against Oakland. In order to continue that type of performance, the Mountaineers will need to get out on the fast break early and often to find open shots for shooters like Jonnie West, Dalton Pepper and Casey Mitchell.

WVU guard Casey Mitchell says the competition in practice has played a vital role in the Mountaineers? shooting performance as of late.

?In practice we probably miss a couple shots here and there because we?re probably tired ? it?s a three hour practice,? said Mitchell. ?But in a game we?re all focused and we know what we have to do or we?re not going to play. So we?re going to hit more shots if we want to play.?

The Puerto Rico Tip-Off Tournament features some of the nations most talented teams. Squads like Minnesota, Vanderbilt and North Carolina headline the list of teams entering the tournament. The thought of WVU possibly getting a crack at the Tar Heels is an intriguing idea for Mountaineer fans to say the least.

 

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Wildcats test themselves in early games



Davidson basketball coach Bob McKillop understands both the potential benefits and dangers of playing an over-stuffed nonconference schedule early in the college season.

Three years ago, the Wildcats faced Duke, North Carolina, N.C. State and UCLA early in the season and pieced together a 2-6 record before embarking on Southern Conference play. That team came within a game of the Final Four.

Granted, that was a senior-rich team that included the sensational Stephen Curry, but the early challenges proved beneficial later in the season.

The Davidson team McKillop takes to the Honda Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament is younger and lacks a scoring star like Curry, but the Wildcats are no less ambitious.

That's why they're playing West Virginia at 11:30 a.m. (ESPNU) today with a second-round game against Nebraska or Vanderbilt looming. There's a third game in Puerto Rico on Sunday.

Having already lost a five-point game to Penn in the hot, noisy and historic Palestra last weekend and with a trip to Rhode Island booked for next week, the Wildcats should have a good idea of themselves before beginning Southern Conference play early next month.

"It provides exposure of what we need to work on. We're not going to get fool's gold," McKillop said of the early schedule. "There is the ever-present danger of your confidence being shattered by (the schedule), but that is constantly addressed. Players are aware of it. They took ownership of this schedule. It's the schedule they wanted to play."

Despite the narrow loss at Penn, McKillop said he came away with plenty of positives. Forward Clint Mann had 12 points and seven rebounds, senior point guard Brendan McKillop had 12 points, and the Wildcats hung tough in a difficult environment while playing without junior forward Ben Allison.

"(Mann and McKillop) gave us such competitive toughness, and that's going to be a major factor for this team," McKillop said. "Will we be competitively tough? That will be critically important to this team."