Injured PG Truck Bryant gets a lecture from head coach Bob Huggins back in December. (AP)
There’s no Cinderella storyline with these guys. No homecoming angle. America’s team they certainly are not.
And that’s the way West Virginia likes it.
With a style that doesn’t exactly resonate with the masses and a coach whose nickname – “Huggy Bear” – is as ironic as it gets, the Mountaineers are crashing the Final Four and fitting the role of villain probably better than any of the other three semifinalists.
But whatever label you want to toss on West Virginia doesn’t matter because the Mountaineers are only interested in flying back to Morgantown with the one that matters: Champion.
Do the Mountaineers have what it takes to win their first national title? Here’s a closer look at West Virginia.
Coach: Bob Huggins (3rd year)
Record: 31-6, 13-5 Big East
Final Fours: 2 (1959, 2010)
Mr. Clutch: This season, leading scorer Da’Sean Butler has nailed six game-winning shots in the final seconds.
How They Got Here
West Virgina finished in the three-way tie for second in the Big East regular season standings and then went on to capture the conference tournament championship, earning an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. The Mountaineers were the No. 2 seed in the East Regional.
First Round: West Virginia missed its first 11 shots from the field and made everyone take notice of their early deficit to No. 15 Morgan State. But it didn’t last very long. The Mountaineers eventually started to make some baskets and ended up blitzing the Bears, 77-50.
Second Round: A big first half from Butler paced West Virginia to a 68-59 victory over No. 10 Missouri. Butler scored 19 of the Mountaineers’ 30 points in the first 20 minutes and finished with a game-high 28. The Tigers pressure defense didn’t deter West Virginia from leading the entire game or from holding Missouri to a measly 32.8 percent from the field.
Sweet 16: No. 11 Washington made things very interesting in the first half, taking a two point lead into the locker room, but the second half was a very different story. Too many Washington turnovers and too much West Virginia led to an easy 69-56 victory for the Mountaineers. Washington’s fate was sealed when they started the second half missing 11 of its first 14 attempts from the field. West Virginia advanced to its second regional final in five years.
Elite Eight: West Virginia gave us a first half we may never see again, hitting all eight of their 3-point attempts while failing to make a single shot inside the line. But the hot shooting gave the Mountaineers the lead at half against No. 1 Kentucky in the East Regional final and thanks to its stubborn insistence at launching 3s, coupled with West Virginia’s defense in the second half, the mighty Wildcats went down in the Carrier Dome, 73-66. Joe Mazzula had the game of his life, in his first start of the season, scoring a career-high 17 points in leading the Mountaineers back to the Final Four.
Why They Can Win It All
West Virginia might be the most talented team in the Final Four. From the top of its roster on down, you’d be hard pressed to top what West Virginia is bringing to Indianapolis. They’re tall, athletic and deep. While they may not have prolific scorers like Duke they have plenty of guys who give them more than enough offensive production. The Mountaineers feature three who average double figures – Butler, Kevin Jones and Devin Ebanks – and have a solid bench they can rely on. Butler is the go-to guy and presents a very difficult matchup at 6-foot-7 with the ability to hit the outside shot. The Mountaineers aren’t the greatest 3-point shooting team but we know they’re more than capable of knocking down the outside shot as evidenced by what we saw against Kentucky. Where the Mountaineers really excel is on the defensive end. West Virginia can present a number of different looks and the zone it featured against Kentucky was very effective. For its matchup against Duke Saturday evening in the second national semifinal, Huggins will probably mix up his defenses a little bit considering Duke does not feature the caliber of slashers Kentucky did. West Virginia finished among the nation’s top 10 in rebounding margin but Ken Pomeroy over at Basketball Prospectus doesn’t think you should get fooled into thinking the Mountaineers are that great at crashing the boards – at least the defensive boards. Pomeroy argues that, just like Duke, West Virginia is a superior offensive rebounding team – which can sometimes fly under the radar – meaning they get a lot of second-chance opportunities. And when you capitalize as effectively on those extra opportunities as the Mountaineers do then it makes them very difficult to beat. And in crunch time, you can generally count on West Virginia to close things out. The Mountaineers are hitting a respectable 70.3 percent from the free throw line and showed their closing abilities last week when they sealed the deal against Kentucky from the line.
Why The Won’t
West Virginia is not a great shooting team, especially from beyond the arc, and sometimes they can rely too much on the outside shot. With their relatively slow pace of play it’s not easy for the Mountaineers to overcome a sustained cold spell from the field against good teams so if they’re not converting those second chance opportunities then they’re dead. West Virginia is prone to making mistakes – they turned it over 23 times against Washington in the Sweet 16. And while that was an aberration so far in the tournament, the Mountaineers are liable to give it up at almost any moment. With a lack of true ball handlers thanks to PG Truck Bryant’s fractured foot – which will likely keep him out of action again this weekend – things can get sloppy in the backcourt when Mazzula isn’t the one handling it. Butler and Ebanks can serve as point guard for brief stretches, but in the long run the two forwards are liabilities dribbling around the perimeter. And speaking of Mazzula, you can’t expect a similar performance out of him following the Kentucky game. The oft-injured backup point guard was pressed into duty and was phenomenal. But his limited offensive game – West Virginia does not want him firing from outside – hampers the Mountaineers. West Virginia did an excellent job defending Kentucky but Duke is a better 3-point shooting team than the Wildcats. Should the Mountaineers play zone against the Blue Devils, West Virginia better hope Duke isn’t feeling it from beyond and grabbing the misses because as good of an offensive rebounding team as West Virginia is, Duke’s right there with them.
