NEW YORK ? John Beilein refuses to take any of the credit for West Virginia?s two wins over Providence this season.
OK, so maybe that?s a stretch. Put it this way: Beilein says there was really no brilliant coaching moves involved in the way the Mountaineers squeezed out two nail-biters over the Friars, by four points in Providence and by two in Morgantown a few weeks later.
?Those last-second games are so overrated as far as coaching moves,?? Beilein said. ?So much of it is just the way the ball bounces.??
Well, then, know this: If it was simply a matter of the ball bouncing just right for West Virginia in each of those prior games against the Friars, then the Mountaineers had better hope for similar good fortune today. Quite simply, Providence is a better team than the one WVU faced a month ago, and today?s game is far more important.
When West Virginia (18-9) and Providence (14-16) tip off the Big East tournament at 2 p.m. today at Madison Square Garden, the Mountaineers? hopes of making their way into the NCAA tournament hang in the balance.
No, perhaps a win today won?t be enough. Perhaps that will require another one on Thursday, when the WVU-Providence winner meets top-seeded Boston College in the quarterfinals.
But a loss today would likely stamp the Mountaineers? ticket to the NIT, not the NCAA. So if a little luck is what it takes, so be it.
?Hey, we don?t mind having our backs against the wall,?? Beilein said. ?We?re better when we?re hunting.??
In order to beat Providence, West Virginia will have to overcome some obstacles. One is history. The Mountaineers have been just awful in the Big East tournament, winning just once in eight trips. Two years ago, it was Providence that delivered the thumping, winning 73-50 in the first round behind sophomore Ryan Gomes? 26 points and 15 rebounds.
Which brings up the second and most significant obstacle. Gomes is still around. He averaged 28 points in the two games the teams played this season. And along with sharpshooter Donnie McGrath, they provide a lethal one-two punch. Gomes, the Big East scoring champion this season, scores almost at will inside. And McGrath is 7-for-12 on 3-pointers against the Mountaineers. He made his first three in the game at Providence before leaving with an ankle injury that perhaps saved West Virginia in that one.
So how do the Mountaineers defend the duo?
Carefully.
?Both of them are really key,?? Beilein said. ?You?ve got to stop the inside guy and the outside guy because one of them will get you. If you commit too much of your team to Gomes, McGrath will get you. If you commit too much of your team to McGrath, Gomes will get you.
And to make matters just a bit more difficult, freshman center Randall Hanke has become a force for the Friars, earning Big East rookie of the week honors last week and averaging 17.6 points in the last three games. Hanke played just four minutes combined in the first two games with West Virginia.
But Gomes and McGrath are the most dangerous cogs for the Friars. McGrath came within one of matching the NCAA record for consecutive 3-pointers made this season, the streak snapped against WVU.
?One of them?s going to score,?? said West Virginia guard Patrick Beilein, who counts McGrath among his friends in the league. ?We just can?t let both of them go off and let Donnie go 8-for-8 and Gomes to get 30. I?d rather shut Gomes out and make Donnie beat us. Make him shoot the ball.??
Then again, perhaps the teams will simply play to a relative draw and then decide things in the final minutes, as they did the other two times this season. And if that happens, maybe Beilein is right about it simply being the luck of a bouncing ball. The good thing is West Virginia has gotten those bounces this season, going 7-2 in games decided by five points or less or in overtime. In the same type of games, Providence is 2-9.
In the game at the Coliseum, West Virginia won only because Providence?s Jeff Parmer watched a 3-pointer at the buzzer bounce the wrong way.
?We made a big blunder here when we left Parmer wide open for a 3 that went in and out,?? John Beilein said. ?If that one goes in, we?re not even here talking about being on the bubble. A lot comes down to who?s lucky and who?s not.??
OK, so maybe that?s a stretch. Put it this way: Beilein says there was really no brilliant coaching moves involved in the way the Mountaineers squeezed out two nail-biters over the Friars, by four points in Providence and by two in Morgantown a few weeks later.
?Those last-second games are so overrated as far as coaching moves,?? Beilein said. ?So much of it is just the way the ball bounces.??
Well, then, know this: If it was simply a matter of the ball bouncing just right for West Virginia in each of those prior games against the Friars, then the Mountaineers had better hope for similar good fortune today. Quite simply, Providence is a better team than the one WVU faced a month ago, and today?s game is far more important.
When West Virginia (18-9) and Providence (14-16) tip off the Big East tournament at 2 p.m. today at Madison Square Garden, the Mountaineers? hopes of making their way into the NCAA tournament hang in the balance.
No, perhaps a win today won?t be enough. Perhaps that will require another one on Thursday, when the WVU-Providence winner meets top-seeded Boston College in the quarterfinals.
But a loss today would likely stamp the Mountaineers? ticket to the NIT, not the NCAA. So if a little luck is what it takes, so be it.
?Hey, we don?t mind having our backs against the wall,?? Beilein said. ?We?re better when we?re hunting.??
In order to beat Providence, West Virginia will have to overcome some obstacles. One is history. The Mountaineers have been just awful in the Big East tournament, winning just once in eight trips. Two years ago, it was Providence that delivered the thumping, winning 73-50 in the first round behind sophomore Ryan Gomes? 26 points and 15 rebounds.
Which brings up the second and most significant obstacle. Gomes is still around. He averaged 28 points in the two games the teams played this season. And along with sharpshooter Donnie McGrath, they provide a lethal one-two punch. Gomes, the Big East scoring champion this season, scores almost at will inside. And McGrath is 7-for-12 on 3-pointers against the Mountaineers. He made his first three in the game at Providence before leaving with an ankle injury that perhaps saved West Virginia in that one.
So how do the Mountaineers defend the duo?
Carefully.
?Both of them are really key,?? Beilein said. ?You?ve got to stop the inside guy and the outside guy because one of them will get you. If you commit too much of your team to Gomes, McGrath will get you. If you commit too much of your team to McGrath, Gomes will get you.
And to make matters just a bit more difficult, freshman center Randall Hanke has become a force for the Friars, earning Big East rookie of the week honors last week and averaging 17.6 points in the last three games. Hanke played just four minutes combined in the first two games with West Virginia.
But Gomes and McGrath are the most dangerous cogs for the Friars. McGrath came within one of matching the NCAA record for consecutive 3-pointers made this season, the streak snapped against WVU.
?One of them?s going to score,?? said West Virginia guard Patrick Beilein, who counts McGrath among his friends in the league. ?We just can?t let both of them go off and let Donnie go 8-for-8 and Gomes to get 30. I?d rather shut Gomes out and make Donnie beat us. Make him shoot the ball.??
Then again, perhaps the teams will simply play to a relative draw and then decide things in the final minutes, as they did the other two times this season. And if that happens, maybe Beilein is right about it simply being the luck of a bouncing ball. The good thing is West Virginia has gotten those bounces this season, going 7-2 in games decided by five points or less or in overtime. In the same type of games, Providence is 2-9.
In the game at the Coliseum, West Virginia won only because Providence?s Jeff Parmer watched a 3-pointer at the buzzer bounce the wrong way.
?We made a big blunder here when we left Parmer wide open for a 3 that went in and out,?? John Beilein said. ?If that one goes in, we?re not even here talking about being on the bubble. A lot comes down to who?s lucky and who?s not.??
