Preview
A pair of familiar names meet at a distinctly unfamiliar venue in Tuesday's first round of the National Invitation Tournament.
From 1996 through 2012, West Virginia and Georgetown met regularly in Big East play, and faced off in the 2010 conference tournament final. The Mountaineers jumped ship early from the choppy waters of the Big East, settling for a membership in the Big 12 conference, where its closest rival is nearly 800 miles west and where the Mountaineers are largely ignored amidst names like Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma State. A big win over Kansas was the highlight of a rough landing for the 2013-14 season, which saw West Virginia drop five of its last seven, lose its opening round Big 12 tournament game, and fall out of NCAA contention.
A similar fate befell the Georgetown Hoyas. With a strength of schedule to rival any NCAA entrant, the Hoyas also dropped five of its last seven, lose its opening round Big East tournament game, and fall out of NCAA contention. Fortunately for Georgetown, its higher seed in the NCAA brackets takes its season not to the WVU Coliseum, but archaic McDonough Gymnasium, a site where the Mountaineers have never played and where few of WVU's large fan base will be able to squeeze into. No current undergraduate at GU has seen a men's basketball game played in the Hoyas' ancestral home, and will enjoy an experience common among most college teams but altogether foreign on the Hilltop.
Tuesday's game will be fought in the backcourt, where the starting guards for each team average a combined 69.5 points per game.
West Virginia's guards are among the best Georgetown will have faced this season. All-Big 12 guard Juwan Staten leads the team in scoring with 18 points per game and averaged 23 points a game in his last two games against Kansas. While not an outside scorer by trade, the 6-1 Staten can fight inside, and averages nearly six rebounds a game while maintaining an assist to turnover ratio of 2.51 to 1. WVU is among the top 10 teams nationally in fewest turnovers, and Staten averages just over two per game.
The Mountaineers need a big game from 6-3 Eron Harris, who went for 28 in WVU's upset of the Jayhawks but followed it up to shoot 1-5 and collect three points versus Texas in the Big 12 tournament. For the season, Harris is West Virginia's best option from three point range (42%) and plays a role with Staten much like D'Vauntes Smith-Rivers plays alongside Markel Starks. The two guards combine to average half of West Virginia's offensive output and if they are not on their game, as is the case with Georgetown, offensive options are limited, with Terry Henderson (11.6 ppg) as its best option off the bench.
WVU's problem this season has been defense, giving up almost 45 percent from the field this season, with eight teams shooting better than 50 percent. The Mountaineers have done better in three point defense and given the Hoyas' own troubles from outside, this could prove pivotal in the game.
As has been the case for much of the season, the Hoyas figure to go as far as Starks and DSR take them, but there absolutely must be more contributions from the front line than has been exhibited to date. A better effort inside from Mikael Hopkins and Nate Lubick gives the guards an opportunity to take better shots and not force the tempo.
Some other keys to the game:
Free Throws: WVU opponents are averaging 23 free throws a game this season. The Hoyas usually don't get as many chances to win a game at the line but the friendly surroundings can't hurt such an effort.
At The Three: The Jabril Trawick-Aaron Bowen-Reggie Cameron trifecta needs to score 20 or more points in this game between them.
Hold That Lead: Georgetown's inability to hold leads has hurt them all season, but it could be especially important in this game, in that WVU is not a comeback team. The Mountaineers are 16-4 when leading at half but just 1-11 when trailing; WVU is 0-14 when trailing in the final minute of the game.
The NIT committee could not have been more gracious in allowing Georgetown to play at its real home. It is an opportunity not to be wasted.
A pair of familiar names meet at a distinctly unfamiliar venue in Tuesday's first round of the National Invitation Tournament.
From 1996 through 2012, West Virginia and Georgetown met regularly in Big East play, and faced off in the 2010 conference tournament final. The Mountaineers jumped ship early from the choppy waters of the Big East, settling for a membership in the Big 12 conference, where its closest rival is nearly 800 miles west and where the Mountaineers are largely ignored amidst names like Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma State. A big win over Kansas was the highlight of a rough landing for the 2013-14 season, which saw West Virginia drop five of its last seven, lose its opening round Big 12 tournament game, and fall out of NCAA contention.
A similar fate befell the Georgetown Hoyas. With a strength of schedule to rival any NCAA entrant, the Hoyas also dropped five of its last seven, lose its opening round Big East tournament game, and fall out of NCAA contention. Fortunately for Georgetown, its higher seed in the NCAA brackets takes its season not to the WVU Coliseum, but archaic McDonough Gymnasium, a site where the Mountaineers have never played and where few of WVU's large fan base will be able to squeeze into. No current undergraduate at GU has seen a men's basketball game played in the Hoyas' ancestral home, and will enjoy an experience common among most college teams but altogether foreign on the Hilltop.
Tuesday's game will be fought in the backcourt, where the starting guards for each team average a combined 69.5 points per game.
West Virginia's guards are among the best Georgetown will have faced this season. All-Big 12 guard Juwan Staten leads the team in scoring with 18 points per game and averaged 23 points a game in his last two games against Kansas. While not an outside scorer by trade, the 6-1 Staten can fight inside, and averages nearly six rebounds a game while maintaining an assist to turnover ratio of 2.51 to 1. WVU is among the top 10 teams nationally in fewest turnovers, and Staten averages just over two per game.
The Mountaineers need a big game from 6-3 Eron Harris, who went for 28 in WVU's upset of the Jayhawks but followed it up to shoot 1-5 and collect three points versus Texas in the Big 12 tournament. For the season, Harris is West Virginia's best option from three point range (42%) and plays a role with Staten much like D'Vauntes Smith-Rivers plays alongside Markel Starks. The two guards combine to average half of West Virginia's offensive output and if they are not on their game, as is the case with Georgetown, offensive options are limited, with Terry Henderson (11.6 ppg) as its best option off the bench.
WVU's problem this season has been defense, giving up almost 45 percent from the field this season, with eight teams shooting better than 50 percent. The Mountaineers have done better in three point defense and given the Hoyas' own troubles from outside, this could prove pivotal in the game.
As has been the case for much of the season, the Hoyas figure to go as far as Starks and DSR take them, but there absolutely must be more contributions from the front line than has been exhibited to date. A better effort inside from Mikael Hopkins and Nate Lubick gives the guards an opportunity to take better shots and not force the tempo.
Some other keys to the game:
Free Throws: WVU opponents are averaging 23 free throws a game this season. The Hoyas usually don't get as many chances to win a game at the line but the friendly surroundings can't hurt such an effort.
At The Three: The Jabril Trawick-Aaron Bowen-Reggie Cameron trifecta needs to score 20 or more points in this game between them.
Hold That Lead: Georgetown's inability to hold leads has hurt them all season, but it could be especially important in this game, in that WVU is not a comeback team. The Mountaineers are 16-4 when leading at half but just 1-11 when trailing; WVU is 0-14 when trailing in the final minute of the game.
The NIT committee could not have been more gracious in allowing Georgetown to play at its real home. It is an opportunity not to be wasted.
