Doug Johnson - Sports Illustrated: Mountaineer Maven
No. 12 West Virginia Looking to hand TCU First Big 12 Loss
Morgantown, WV – The No. 12 West Virginia Mountaineers (13-2, 2-1) host the Texas Christian Horned Frogs (12-3, 3-0) Tuesday for a 9:00 pm tip-off inside the WVU Coliseum. The Mountaineers lead the all-time series 13-2, including a perfect 7-0 record at home.
TCU guard Desmond Bane (Sr. G 6-6, 215) is among the best in the Big 12 in offensive categories. He’s second in the Big 12 in scoring averaging 17.1 points per game and in three-point percentage at 44.2%, first in three’s made per game with 2.8 and fifth in field goal percentage 47.3% - second among guards. Also nabs 6.9 rebounds per game.
“Bane, I think, is one of the elite players in the league. He’s shooting 44% from three and 83 from the foul line. Seven rebounds for a guard – he’s a really good player.”
RJ Nembhard (So. G 6-5, 195) is second on the team in scoring averaging 13.1 points per game. He scored a career-high 31 points in their Big 12 opener against Iowa State. However, he’s only shot 40% or better four times on the season, averaging 37.8% from the field on the season.
Kevin Samuel (So. C 6-11, 250) leads the Big 12 in blocked shots (2.9 per game) along with averaging 10.8 points 8.9 rebounds per game. After scoring 16 against Iowa State and recording his seventh double-double on the season versus Kansas State (10 points – 15 rebounds), he was held scoreless Saturday against Oklahoma State.
“Well, they’re 12-3. I think they’re 12-3 to start out with and they’re 3-0 in the league,” said Huggins. "And they’re losses are by two in overtime, by two to Southern Cal and Xavier by 12. When they have lost, they haven’t lost very bad.”
The record looks good but according to the NET rankings TCU has yet to record a quadrant-one win. The three losses came to quadrant-two teams making them 3-3 in that category. All three wins came against Big 12 opponents.
As a result, they sit at the top of the conference rankings with Kansas as the only two without a blemish on their conference record.
TCU’s success comes from behind the arc. They’re shooting 40.5% from three in their first three Big 12 games, leading the conference in that category.
“They’re making shots,” said Huggins. “They spread you. They do a great job of spreading you because he puts four guys on the floor that can really make shots.”
After the Mountaineers three conference games, they’re holding their opponent to a Big 12 best 15.4 from three and 32.0% from the field. West Virginia, statistically, is ranked second in defensive three-point percentage and third in defensive field goal percentage (35.3%) but Huggins sees room for improvement.
“We got to do a better job of making rotations. We’re rotating, we’re just not,” Huggins paused for a moment before recollecting words from a College Football Hall of Fame coach. “It’s kind of like I heard Lou Holtz say one time, he said ‘Billy Ray Smith wasn’t an All-American cause he didn’t get knocked down, he was an All-American cause he didn’t stay down. He got up, took the shortest route to the ball carrier and arrived in a bad mood.’ We got to take the shorter routes to people and be a little more aggressive when we get there.”
West Virginia has had their struggles offensively, however, several Mountaineers have stepped up, not only in moments but have had big games. As of late, it’s been freshman Deuce McBride providing the offense. In the last six games, Deuce has averaged 15.2 points during that span, upping his average to 10.1 points per game on the season.
