WVU Basketball

In the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, every team will play three games. The losers in the first round will enter a loser's bracket, and the winners in the first round will enter a winner's bracket.

I will only be focusing on the winner's bracket, more specifically the first round, semifinals and championship game.

First Round

Davidson vs. West Virginia

The glory days at Davidson continue to fade away. After a 16-15 season last year, the Wildcats dropped a close game to Penn in the 2010-11 season opener.

On the other side, despite being less talented than last season, West Virginia is still a very good basketball team that should handle Davidson fairly easily. In their season opener, the Mountaineers defeated Oakland, a solid mid-major, 95-71. West Virginia will cruise to a 2-0 start with a win over Davidson.

West Virginia 92, Davidson 67

Nebraska vs. Vanderbilt

Nebraska is off to a solid 2-0 start, but Vanderbilt is clearly the more talented team. The Commodores have not yet been tested this year, but they are returning a bunch of players from last year's NCAA Tournament team. Vanderbilt has a couple of pesky guards and strong big men that will wreak havoc against the Cornhuskers.

Vanderbilt 85, Nebraska 61

Hofstra vs. North Carolina

Hofstra looked strong in its season opener, but that game was against Farmingdale State. Charles Jenkins was outstanding for the Pride with 26 points, eight assists and eight rebounds, and he received solid support from teammates Shemiye McClendon, Dwan McMillan, Greg Washington and Mike Moore.

The Pride will provide some size with Washington, but the Tar Heels' big men are simply too strong. Tyler Zeller, Harrison Barnes and John Henson will be able to get to the basket with ease.

UNC 86, Hofstra 58

Western Kentucky vs. Minnesota

Minnesota has looked strong in its first two games, defeating two solid mid-majors in Siena and Wofford. Although this will be the closest first round game in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, Minnesota should still be able to win with a little bit of breathing room. The Gophers' size, strength and athleticism will be too much for the Hilltoppers.

Minnesota 68, Western Kentucky 59

Semifinals

West Virginia vs. Vanderbilt

West Virginia has the balance to compete with Vanderbilt, plus the Mountaineers have more depth. This depth will be what ultimately puts West Virginia into the championship game.

West Virginia 81, Vanderbilt 71

North Carolina vs. Minnesota

Minnesota has the talent to keep up with North Carolina, but the Golden Gophers do not have enough depth to beat the Tar Heels. The Tar Heels have too many strong big men. Minnesota does not have the depth in the post to keep up with the Tar Heels.

UNC 77, Minnesota 71

Championship

North Carolina vs. West Virginia

North Carolina's biggest strength appears to be its size in the post. The Tar Heels have multiple big men that can all get the job done. Although West Virginia's big men are not as tall, they can still play with players bigger than them. In North Carolina's other matchups, this advantage has been pivotal.

In addition to that, the Mountaineers also have more talented guards than the North Carolina guards. This advantage will make the West Virginia Mountaineers the Puerto Rico Tip-Off champions.

West Virginia 79, UNC 74

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Ryan Boatright didn’t exactly start his Mountaineer career off with a bang, as one of the top high school recruits in the country invoked a little Lebron Jamesism by announcing, “I look forward to taking my talent elsewhere to the University of West Virginia.”  Once he straps on the blue and gold, Boatright will notice that it’s actually WVU-West Virginia University, but nonetheless, it is likely Bobby Huggins and the Mountaineer faithful will overlook the misstep and be happy to see this dynamic guard running the point in the very near future.  

Boatright is widely considered a top 50 high school recruit for the class of 2011, and during his announcement cited Bob Huggins record of success with smaller guards, specifically Nick Van Exel, when Huggins was at Cincinnati.  While his initial playing time will be largely determined by the success of current junior Mountaineer point guard Darryl “Truck” Bryant, and incoming freshman Noah Cottrill, there is little doubt that Huggins sees Boatright as a tremendous talent.  Widely considered the best scoring guard in the country, Boatright will immediately upgrade the firepower in the Mountaineer backcourt.

What remains to be seen is how Boatright’s decision will impact another top potential Mountaineer recruit, Jabarie Hinds.  Hinds is from Mount Vernon, New York, and knows fellow former Mount Vernon prep standout and current Mountaineer star Kevin Jones quite well.  Many thought that might give West Virginia an inside track in recruiting the star point guard.  But with Boatright’s commitment and the freshman Cottrill already in Morgantown, it’s going to take one heck of a sales job by Huggins, if he still intends to pursue Hinds.    

What really makes the Boatright decision great for Mountaineer fans is that all great players love to play with a top notch point guard, and what Boatright brings is immediate credibility to the Mountaineer’s 2011 recruiting class.  With Huggins and the program in hot pursuit of two more top 100 recruits in center Michael Chandler and power forward Mike Shaw, it will be an enormous advantage for the coaches to extol the virtues of having top flight point guard Boatright delivering the ball to both big men in the post.

Signing day is Nov. 10, but it is being widely reported that verbal commitments are likely from both Shaw and Chandler within the next week.  West Virginia will keep its collective fingers crossed that either one or both young men choose to join the talented Boatright in Morgantown.

Sometimes you just know when a recruiting class has the chance to be something special for a program.

Take, for instance, West Virginia’s 2008 class, Bob Huggins’ first full class with the Mountaineers.  With Devin Ebanks, Darryl “Truck” Bryant and Kevin Jones, most fans knew that they would be able to come in and contribute quality minutes, in some way, right off the bat.

They might not have been stars right away, but they would help a lot.

Fast forward a couple of years and Ebanks is already in the NBA, Truck has been the starting point guard for two years and KJ is one of the emerging stars in the Big East. Oh, and I almost forgot, all three were vital parts in West Virginia’s Final Four run last March.

And then there are some classes that you have no idea how they’re going to pan out and how long it will take for the recruits to play a significant role on the team.

Which brings me to the Mountaineers 2010 recruiting class.

After losing several big name, blue-chip prospects like Tobias Harris, Adreian Payne, and Doron Lamb to bigger, more prestigious programs (Tennessee, Michigan State, Kentucky), this year’s class has been looked at by a lot of fans as a bit of a disappointment.

Leading the class of four players is in-state product,  Noah Cottrill.

The 6’3″ point guard from Logan High School (WV) is the No. 21 ranked point guard in the country according to Rivals, and is ranked in the top 100 players overall.

Out of all the players in this class, Cottrill might be the one who is the most ready to play right now. But with all of his talent, he has a lot of things that could hold him back once he gets to the next level.

I’ve only watched him a few times, but I think that’s enough to see some things that I like and some stuff that I don’t like.

First off, he is a lights out shooter.

In a game against Findlay Prep while he was still a member of Mountain State Academy in his junior season,  he brought the ball up the floor and pulled up from WELL beyond NBA range to knock down a 3-pointer on more than one occasion .

With outside shooting being something that this Mountaineer team could struggle at, that’s Cottrill could find his way into the rotation.

Another thing I noticed that could be a little bit of a good and bad thing is that he is a great ball handler, and has the ability to make some great highlight reel passes.

Now when you first read that, you might think, “What’s so bad about that?”

Well, sometimes when he makes a couple of those impressive plays, his cockiness and attitude (which are two things that I absolutely LOVE to see in a point guard) take control and he’ll make a couple of dumb choices with the basketball.

That is something that should be taken care of pretty quickly, especially once WVU gets into Big East play. He’ll have to learn to play smart 24/7 or he’ll be on the bench.

That occasional decision-making problem is one of the only big knocks that you can find in Cottrill’s game. When you combine his shooting ability with his confidence and toughness, you can start drawing comparisons to Truck Bryant.

Overall, I think that once you think about all the depth that the Mountaineers have at the point (Bryant and Joe Mazzulla), Cottrill could have a tough time contributing a lot of quality minutes in his freshman season. But once Mazzulla leaves, it should give him his chance to come in and play a lot, spelling Truck for 15 minutes a game or so.

The next two recruits to commit to the program are looked at as two of the biggest enigmas that the program has had since Huggins has taken over in Morgantown.

Just a year after picking up two big men who needed a decent amount of work on their game, the Mountaineers got another big project in the form of seven-foot Sudan native  David Nyarsuk .

A graduate of Mountain State Academy in Beckley, Nyarsuk can run the floor well for a man of his size and is pretty good on the offensive end.

According to many people around the WVU basketball program, he is also a great defensive weapon, especially when it comes to blocking and changing shots. But he might want to add a little bit of weight to his 230-pound frame if he wants to try to become a better rebounder.

If I had to make a comparison to Nyarsuk, considering how raw he is and what his skillset is, I would have to say that he’s a good bit like former UConn star Hasheem Thabeet.

Although, I honestly don’t see him doing much in a Mountaineer uniform, I really hope I’m wrong because it would be amazing to have a big inside presence like the Huskies had in Thabeet for a few years.

Once the Mountaineers suffered the loss of Da’Sean Butler, Wellington Smith and Devin Ebanks, the biggest need staring WVU in the eyes was that of a skilled wing player that can slash and hit the outside shot.

After looking for a long time for someone to fill that need, they finally got their guy after  Darrious Curry de - committed from UTEP and signed with the Mountaineers shortly after.

Curry, an athletic 6’7″ forward out of Houston, Tex., has a build that reminds a lot of people of Butler (who was also an unheralded player coming out of high school). He was brought in because of his long-range shooting and has range way beyond the three-point line. Curry has also said that he is continuing to improve on his ability to drive and get to the rack.

Depending on how well he can do at learning the system and improving as the season gets closer, Curry could find himself getting a little bit of playing time based on the need that the team will have for a threat on the wing.

The last player to sign in this year’s recruiting class could possibly be the one with the most potential and upside.

Minnesota’s Gatorade Player of the Year, Kevin Noreen , asked to be released from his letter-of-intent to play at Boston College after former head coach Al Skinner stepped down. After a visit to Morgantown, he knew that WVU was where he wanted to be.

At 6’10″ he gives the Mountaineers another guy who can be of help down in the post, but when you factor in his ability to shoot on the perimeter, he can almost play the three or the four (think Wellington Smith).

If his high school career is any indication of how good he can be at the college level, West Virginia fans should be absolutely giddy about how good Noreen can be.

While at Minnesota Transitions School, Noreen scored 4,000 points over the course of his high school career and had a senior season in which he averaged a jaw-dropping stat line of 38.6 points, 16.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 3.9 steals and 3.2 blocks per game.

Now, wouldn’t it be nice if he could do anything close to that once he gets to Morgantown?

Shortly after Noreen committed to play at WVU, Mountaineer assistant Larry Harrison compared his style of play to that of former Mountaineer shooting guard Alex Ruoff because of his versatile skill set and ability to do a little bit of everything.

The 2010 recruiting class definitely turned out to be a different one than many Mountaineer fans might have wished to see. But if these players can pan out the way that they have the potential to, coach Huggins and his team should be able to continue having great success.

Who knows? Maybe another trip to the Final Four could be in order within the next few seasons.

You can see this and more of my columns in the future on my new blog, The View From My Couch .

Last night under the bright lights of the Big Apple, the NBA held its annual college player draft at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. 

West Virginia added two new names to the list of draft picks to its program’s history. Da'Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks were selected in the 2nd round with the 42nd and 43rd picks respectively.

Da'Sean Butler was selected with the 42nd pick overall by the Miami Heat. Butler, the leader of the Mountaineers Final Four run, scored 17 points and grabbed down six rebounds per game in the 2009 season. Devin Ebanks was selected in the second round by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 43rd overall pick last night. Ebanks, who averaged 12.0 points while grabbing 8 rebounds, was another major player in the Mountaineers in their run to the Final Four where coming up short to eventual National Champions Duke.

Butler was picked by the Miami Heat which was eliminated in the first round by the eventual Eastern Conference Champions Boston Celtics four games to one. Ebanks joins the Lakers who just won their second straight NBA championship by defeating the Celtics in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

The addition of the selections of Butler and Ebanks grows the history of NBA draft picks for the Mountaineers. Here is a look at the highest picked West Virginia alums to make from Morgantown to the NBA

The Mountaineers gained their first round draft pick back in 1952 as Mark Workman was selected by the then Milwaukee Hawks at 11^th overall. Mark Workman, a Charleston, WV native, played with the Mountaineers from 1950 to 1952 while averaging 20 points per game along with 5 rebounds a game. Workman gained All-America honors in 1952 while scoring 23 points a game and becoming at that time, becoming only the third All-American in West Virginia History.  Marc Workman played from 1952 to 1954 playing for the Milwaukee Hawks, Philadelphia Warriors, and Baltimore Bullets before retiring from competitive basketball.

Later that decade, West Virginia gained it second NBA first round selection in Rod Hundley by the Cincinnati Royals in 1957 with the first overall pick in the draft. Hundley, more affectionately referred to as “Hot Rod” by fans, was also born in Charleston, WV and began his college career with the Mountaineers in 1955. He is only one of three Mountaineers that have scored more than 2000 points along with Jerry West and Da’Sean Butler.

  Hundley was a two time All-American in 1956-57 while averaging 24 points a game and grabbing down 10 rebounds during his career. Hundley, after being drafted by Cincinnati, was immediately traded to the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers which he played from 1957 to 1963. He finished his career with more than 3000 points, 1400 rebounds, and 1400 assists.

The logo of the NBA was drafted in 1960 from the old Gold and Blue. Jerry West was selected with the 2^nd overall pick by the Minneapolis Lakers spending 14 years with the team. The Cheylan, WV native led the Mountaineers in scoring in his three years in Morgantown and holds the career scoring record to this day for WVU.  West also holds nine major offensive categories to this day including rebounds, steals, and 30 point games at West Virginia.            

As a pro, West scored more than 25,00o points, 5000 rebounds, and 6000 assists from 1960 to 1974 while being a 14 time NBA all-star for the Lakers. West was selected to the NBA’s 50 anniversary team in 1996 while being named 1969 NBA most valuable player and winning the 1972 NBA Championship

In 1964, Rob Thorn was selected in the first round by the Baltimore Bullets with third pick overall. Thorn, which played from 1961 to 1963, scored 21 points a game with 11 rebounds during his playing career in the Mountain State.  As he grew up in Princeton, he was such a major basketball talent from West Virginia that the state legislature declared him a state natural resource during his high school years.  

  He scored more than 1700 points in his career while West Virginia posted a 70-18 and posting two NCAA tournament appearances. Thorn played with Baltimore, Detroit, and Seattle during his NBA career while his time with Seattle producing his best season of 15 points and 4 rebounds per game in his final season.

The last 1^st round selection for the Mountaineers was in 2008 with Joe Alexander going to the Milwaukee Bucks with the eight overall pick that year.  While in Morgantown, Alexander finished his career averaging 12 points a game with 4 rebounds in his three seasons.  In his junior season, he led the team to a Big East Tournament semi-final game with Georgetown leading to a run to the Sweet Sixteen until being knocked off by third ranked Xavier. Alexander has had very lack luster professional career so far while in Milwaukee and was traded to the Chicago Bulls in February 2010.

West Virginia has a rich basketball tradition which should grow since former player and present coach Bob Huggins has taken the reigns of the basketball program. I see many more first rounds picks coming out of Morgantown and making a big impact on the Association as time goes on.   

 

His career at West Virginia was short.

His impact wasn't nearly what many of us thought it would be.

West Virginia sophomore Devin Ebanks has declared for the 2010 NBA draft, deciding to leave school in order to pursue a professional career in basketball.

He leaves the Mountaineers after averaging about 11 points and 8 rebounds per game in his two-year career.

Many believed Ebanks would lead the Mountaineers for the past couple seasons, but it was the play of forward and occasional point guard Da'Sean Butler that really helped the Mountaineers throughout the postseason tournament.

Ebanks best game undoubtedly came against Seton Hall on the day after Christmas, where he recorded 22 points and 17 rebounds.

He started all but four games this past season, missing three at the beginning of the year supposedly due to an on-campus fight and an injured finger.

It was no secret that Devin planned to leave the team after a couple seasons.

With the pedigree of an NBA player, many West Virginians knew his time with the Mountaineers would be short-lived.

We wish you the best of luck, Devin, but we would have been much more proud had you stayed.

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This past weekend I made the trip up to Indianapolis with a few friends for the Final Four with the intentions of being there to witness West Virginia finally get to the National Championship.

While we were eating before the game, we were talking about how this was one of the top five greatest days of our lives because, let's face it, we weren't going to lose to Duke.

We were more athletic, we defended better, we had the most clutch big-game player in the country in Da'Sean Butler.

Before the WVU game, my friend who sat in the student seats with me decided that we should upgrade from our seats for the Butler-Michigan State game to some empty seats in a better spot.

Talk about excited.

I was at the Final Four actually getting to see the Mountaineers play in it. It was a dream 18-and-a-half years in the making come true.

Unfortunately getting a better view of the game meant that I also got a better view of Butler going down with what turned out to be a torn ACL.

After I pulled my head away from my hands, the first thing that I saw when I looked up was the huge sign that covered the wall of Lucas Oil Stadium that read, "The Road Ends Here".

The game had been over for awhile before that, but that was the moment that it sunk in. The run is over, we weren't going to win.

And it wasn't like we lost because of that injury, or because we weren't hitting shots. It wasn't even because of the officiating (although, in my opinion, they weren't entirely helpful).

The Mountaineers just got beat.

Duke didn't miss. WVU not getting a hand in the shooter's face about 65 percent of the time didn't help their cause much, but the Blue Devils were absolutely lights out.

Singler, Scheyer, Smith.

Those were the three guys that you knew that the Mountaineers couldn't let beat them. Personally, I would've rather seen Zoubek or the Plumlees beat us than the three guys that we had a week to prepare to stop.

One thing that I really don't like to do is criticize coaches, especially the ones on the level of Bob Huggins.

I'm not a Hall of Fame coach and I haven't led two teams to the Final Four, obviously. But on Saturday night, I just didn't quite understand what he was doing with his substitutions.

This season, the times that we have done the best have been the times that Huggs went nine and sometimes even 10 guys deep with the rotation. The times they've struggled, they only used seven or eight.

On Saturday, West Virginia did the latter, and boy did they struggle.

Not only did they use less players than usual, the rotation of the players that they used during the game was surprisingly switched up.

The three names that come to mind with that are Deniz Kilicli, Cam Thoroughman, and Casey Mitchell.

All season when we have needed a couple big defensive stops, Thoroughman has always been the guy that Huggins has brought in. 

Cam went from playing about eight to 10 minutes a game, to getting one minute in the Final Four game.

So, let me get this straight. A guy who's been one of our better defensive players in the post, doesn't get into the game that we probably could've used him a lot in.

Meanwhile, since he has become eligible to play in the Pitt game in Morgantown, Kilicli has gone into the game to be an offensive—not a defensive —spark.

Last Saturday, we were making a run and had cut the lead to six or so. This would be a decent time to, if you're going to make a sub, bring in one of our guys that can be defensive stoppers.

In comes the Turk.

He came right in, immediately hit his soon-to-be trademarked jump hook, the crowd goes crazy. It's the same stuff that usually happens. But this time, things after that bucket started going a little downhill.

His next shot, another jump hook, was an airball. He made two turnovers, committed a foul, and by the time he came out, the deficit had gone to 14.

Not one of his best days.

What confused me about this, other than why Kilicli was struggling, was the fact that when Huggs, who usually keeps his players (especially the bigs) on a short leash as far as mistakes go, saw Deniz struggle like this he didn't pull him for Thoroughman, Flowers, or someone that was more fresh.

And then there's Casey Mitchell.

The former Junior College Player of the Year who began the season in the starting five, after a few games saw himself planted on the end of the bench, and when it was time for WVU's big run in March, had started playing well again and looked like he was going to be a huge factor off the bench against Duke.

Or so I thought.

He played five minutes in the game and finished with two points, coming off of free throws.

Truthfully I'm not really that surprised that Mitchell didn't get in. For the most part the offense wasn't playing bad at all (I don't know how many times we've shot 50 percent in the first half) and we really needed guys to play defense, which is not one of Casey's strong points.

Now that that's done with, time to get away from that negative crap and finish this thing up.

After the game, we waited for a cab for about an hour and a half. I don't think I said more than five or six words that whole time.

It wasn't all because I was mad about the loss. I think it was just because I didn't know what to say.

This team has been so important to everyone in the state and the school. They brought us all so much joy.

As coach Huggins stressed so much throughout the season, they were special .

The buzzer beaters, the championships, the Twitter videos. They weren't only the most talented team that we've had since I can remember, they were the most memorable.

Let's just say that I wouldn't wait outside of the Bridgeport airport freezing cold for four hours for just any team to get off the plane and drive by us on their bus.

But even with all of the joy that this run in the tournament has given myself, and the rest of Mountaineer Nation, I think that I would give it up for Da'Sean Butler to be healthy.

The great thing about Da' is that he wouldn't do it.

That's what's great about this whole team in general. It's one thing for a team to go out and take care of business, but these guys were doing this for the state, to show something to all the people who make fun of this state. 

They gave us hope and they knew how much they meant to us. That's the thing that made these guys stand out the most.

While we were waiting for the cab, those were the things that were running through my mind. All the things that this team had gone through this year. The good (Big East Tourney, Elite Eight game), the bad (Purdue game), the ugly (Final Four, the injury).

But I think that that's what being a sports fan is all about. That complete range of emotions that a team can make you go through throughout the course of a season. They make you laugh, they make you cry (and in this team's case, sometimes cry from laughing), and if you're lucky enough they'll do what this team did and give you a couple of months that you will never forget.

It was a great ride. All we can do is hope next year only gets better.

Follow Me on Twitter: twitter.com/Carvelli3 to stay up to date on my work.

Even coach Bob Huggins, known for his straight-up attitude and no-nonsense persona couldn't help but shed a few for his fallen warrior.

Dissolving in tears on the floor at the Final Four, Da'Sean Butler, West Virginia's star forward must have known his college career was over.

His teammates knew the game was over, and I knew our team's chances at a championship, were over.

But it didn't matter to Coach Huggins, who saw one of his own kids lying in pain below the basket.

Once he noticed it wasn't a simple bruise, he left the bench to attend to the senior forward.

Then, he embraced him.

Da'Sean apologized immediately, but Coach Huggins soothed the young man with his words.

There would be no championship for the Mountaineers.

There will be no championship, not this year.

Notes:

Butler had an MRI taken when the ACL tear was found on Sunday. Doctors also found an MCL sprain and two bone bruises while performing the MRI.

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When the West Virginia Mountaineers take on the Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA Division I semifinals, it will be their first trip to the Final Four since 1959.

West Virginia has won 10 games in a row since losing to UConn 73-62.

For the Mountaineers to win, they will need to have another strong defensive performance. They are allowing just 58 points a game in the NCAA tournament.

Against a talented Kentucky Wildcats team it faced in the Elite Eight, West Virginia allowed 66 points and held Kentucky to 4-of-32 from three-point territory. The Mountaineers played their 1-3-1 defense the majority of the game, which confused the Wildcats.

However, the 1-3-1 forces teams to shoot from the perimeter—something that Kentucky was not great at. Duke is a great shooting team, so the Mountaineers will likely go back to their man-to-man defense.

In their man defense, West Virginia will have an advantage, with 6'9" forward Devin Ebanks likely guarding 6'5" guard Jon Scheyer. Ebanks has been matched up with guards before, and he has contained them—with the exception of starting Kentucky guard John Wall. Look for Ebanks' length (over 7' wingspan) and athleticism to give Scheyer problems.

On offense, the key for the Mountaineers will be forwards Kevin Jones and Wellington Smith. Both are capable of making three-point shots, and they will bring their men out on the perimeter to guard them. If they can draw Duke's Lance Thomas and seven-footer Brian Zoubek to the perimeter, it will lead to easy shots for Ebanks and Da'Sean Butler.

The game will come down to rebounding. Both teams are equal when it comes to grabbing boards. While Duke grabbed 22 offensive rebounds against Baylor in the Elite Eight, that likely won't happen against West Virginia. Baylor plays a 2-3 zone, and zone defenses are harder to rebound out of than man-to-man defenses.

Likewise, West Virginia will not get outrebounded by 11 like it did against Kentucky. West Virginia gave up 22 offensive rebounds to Kentucky, but that came with the Mountaineers playing their 1-3-1 defense—which is extremely difficult to rebound out of. With West Virginia likely going back to the man defense, look for the Mountaineers to crash the boards hard on both ends of the court.

It should be a close game, with the team that controls the glass winning.

It has been a strange ride for West Virginia, as senior De’Sean Butler has hit six game-winning shots along the way to the school’s first Final Four appearance since 1959, when Jerry West led the Mountaineers to the championship game.

On Saturday night, West Virginia will tip off against the Duke Blue Devils in a prime time semifinal matchup.

Coach K’s squad has been a streaky offensive group all tournament long. Their big three (Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith) can put points on the board in a hurry, and their tall front line, led by Brian Zoubek, can dominate the glass.

Arguably, the Mountaineers play the best defense in the country, and can match the Blue Devils with their physicality. They can create offense off their defense, as head coach Bob Huggins employs a 1-3-1 zone that has forced opponents to shoot only 33 percent from inside and 20 percent from beyond the three-point arc in this year’s tournament.West Virginia’s lengthy defenders can negate Scheyer’s love to drive to the basket off of ball screens.

Huggins never allows his team to get into a fast-paced contest with their opponents, as the Mountaineers have a difficulty in the transition game.  

West Virginia is great at scoring points off missed shots, as no one in the country can hit the offensive glass like the Mountaineers. They averaged 15 offensive rebounds and have out-rebounded their opponents by 5 in every tournament game. It has been out of necessity, as West Virginia shoots only 40 percent from the field.

The Mountaineers starting lineup is comprised of players from the New York City area, and they all have the mindset of doing whatever it takes on the court to win the game.

Very little trash talking will come out of their mouth, as their style of play is no nonsense and intense. One moment they look pathetic shooting the basketball, then the next they’re making shots and getting stops on defense.

On Saturday, they must spread the Blue Devil defense out and force Duke to play individually.

If successful, then we might see the Mountaineers once again in the finals on Monday night.