Bob Huggins

With his team preparing to take the court against DePaul on Saturday afternoon, West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins was feeling a bit uneasy.

"I was nervous as can be before the game," Huggins said. "This is one we had to have."

Huggins is a man known to prowl the sidelines with a gruff outward demeanor, save of course for an occasional stink-eye pointed toward a referee, so it's unusual to hear him admit any weakness, especially against a Blue Demon team that hasn't won since 2010 and is currently sporting a 0-12 conference record.

Welcome to life in the Big East.

It turns out it wasn't DePaul that made Huggins nervous, rather a remaining schedule that would send any coach with dreams of the Big Dance looking for some Rolaids.

Six games left for West Virginia, five of them against ranked teams. Combine that with their recent losses to No. 4 Pittsburgh and No. 14 Villanova, and the Mountaineers will finish their regular season with seven of nine games against top-20 teams.

In case you are wondering, since the AP poll was first introduced in 1948, West Virginia has never played a stretch this difficult.

Welcome to life in the Big East.

It begins tonight at Syracuse, a team the Mountaineers have beaten just once in their last 12 contests. Things won't get easier after that, with No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 4 Pittsburgh, No. 9 UConn and No. 15 Louisville all looming on the schedule.

Assuming West Virginia doesn't suddenly learn how to shoot better than the 43 percent they are currently firing, they are looking at at least a few losses coming down the stretch. The question then becomes: When will their standing in the field of 64 (sorry, 68) come into question?

If by some miracle the Mountaineers could go 3-3 over their final six games the drama is gone and West Virginia will be in. Anything less than that, Mountaineer Nation will be on pins and needles come Selection Sunday.

Joe Lunardi, the resident "bracketologist" at ESPN, currently has the Mountaineers in the tournament as a No. 6 seed, one of 11 Big East teams slated to make it. If that seems like a big number, it is, considering that no conference has ever sent more than eight teams to the Dance.

With eight teams separated by three games in the standings, the toughest conference in basketball is screaming towards one of the best finishes in league history, and a potentially epic conference tournament.

And if what has transpired thus far this season is any indication, West Virginia will be sweating bullets the whole way through.

Welcome to life in the Big East.

Mired in the midst of perhaps the most brutal closing stretch of basketball in West Virginia history, with six of their remaining opponents nationally ranked, the Mountaineers picked just about the worst time possible to fall into a shooting slump.

That has been the most popular theory, coming from both fans and pundits alike, after their 66-50 loss at the hands of Villanova on Saturday afternoon, where West Virginia managed just 19 first-half points and finished the game shooting 35 percent from the field.

There is just one problem with that theory: It's not true.

The truth is, the Mountaineers' recent struggles have little to do with a shooting slump and more to do with their ability to shoot in the first place.

One or two games can be overlooked, but West Virginia's poor shooting has been the elephant in the room (or Coliseum if you prefer) all season and their schedule has finally pushed it to the forefront. 

For the season, West Virginia is shooting 43 percent from the field, good enough for 10th in the Big East.

With the Conference as stacked as it is, being in the top 10 of anything isn't awful, but the Mountaineers' 43 percent is buoyed by their early season schedule, where they shot 51 percent against both American and Oakland, 47 percent against VMI and a staggering 55 percent against Robert Morris.

Their more recent, in-conference matchups have painted a much different picture. Against nine Conference foes, along with their annual quagmire against Marshall, West Virginia is shooting a whopping 40 percent in their last 10 games; that includes four games where they shot below 35 percent, highlighted by consecutive 33 percent rock fights against South Florida and Marshall.

This isn't just a slump, it's an epidemic. 

After spending 300 words bemoaning the Mountaineers shooting abilities, there is one stat that stands out above the rest: 7-3.

As in, despite laying more bricks than a mason over the last 10 games, West Virginia has managed to go 7-3.

That mark is a tribute to the toughness of both the players and their coach, and the biggest reason why West Virginia is still in the hunt for a berth in the Big Dance. As to whether or not that grit and guile will be enough down the stretch remains to be seen, but if nothing else, they've shown Coach Huggins the best way to win.

"We're not just going to run up and down and beat anyone in this league, we lost too many guys," Huggins said after the loss to Villanova.

"Now we can win, but we've got to do it the way we have to do it. I don't like it that way, but that's the way it is."

The way to win then, if history is any indication, is to take the air out of the ball. They couldn't run with 'Nova on Saturday and they certainly won't be able to run with more talented teams like Pittsburgh and Notre Dame.

It's not the style of basketball that fans have come to expect under Huggins and it's certainly not the most entertaining style of play, but with eight games, it might be the only way to win.

Call it ugly, call it boring, both adjectives fit.

Just don't call it a slump.

After the suspension of leading scorer Casey Mitchell to still unknown reasons, the majority of basketball fans would have left the Mountaineers as roadkill on the highway that is the Big East Conference.

With two wins in the past three games since Mitchell being excused, West Virginia has found yet another winning formula in lineups that certainly had the Pirates of Seton Hall on their heels.

For the game Wednesday night, the Mountaineers came out strong against Seton Hall by grabbing a 2-0 lead within 45 seconds into the game and never letting the Pirates make a game of it in the first 20 minutes.

As the Mountaineers ended the first half with a comfortable 33-17 lead, Kevin Jones, WVU’s all-purpose player, lead the scoring for both teams as he had eight points in addition to seven rebounds at the break.

Cam Thoroughman also added six points to the Mountaineers’ first half success tonight.

With the second half, the duo of Jones and Thoroughman kept the West Virginia offense flowing smoothly to their sixth win in the Big East this season as Seton Hall falls to 4-7 in conference play.

For the Pirates, Jeff Robinson and Herb Pope were able to collect 17 points in addition to 13 rebounds in the losing effort for the consistent team that knocked off Syracuse just last week.

With that being said, let’s get to the stats on how the Mountaineers were able to earn another win in the Big East win column.

Players of the Game

Seton Hall: Herb Pope – Eight Points, seven Rebounds, one steal, one block

West Virginia: Kevin Jones – 13 Points, 12 Rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block

Shooting

Seton Hall: 18-61 Field Goals Made-Attempted, 29.5 Percent

West Virginia: 23-56 Field Goals Made-Attempted, 41.1 Percent

Free Throw Shooting

Seton Hall: 6-11 Free Throw Attempts, 54.5 Percent

West Virginia: 7-15 Free Throw Attempts, 46.7 Percent

Rebounding

Seton Hall: 32 Rebounds, 12 Offensive Rebounds

West Virginia: 46 Rebounds, 15 Offensive Rebounds

Turnovers

Seton Hall: 11

West Virginia: 13

This Mountaineers Basketball article and others like it can be found at SportsHaze.com.

After the dreadful shooting night on Wednesday, the West Virginia Mountaineers entered last night's game with the Cincinnati Bearcats looking for a win to keep up in conference play and keep some of the momentum they gained from their good January play.

The Mountaineers were able to accomplish both of those objectives as they left the Queen City with a 66–55 win on Saturday night.

With leading scorer Casey Mitchell suspended, John Flowers and Deniz Kilicli put West Virginia on their shoulders throughout the beginning part of the game as they scored 16 points collectively in addition to seven rebounds for WVU.

Guard Darryl Bryant also added six points to the Mountaineers’ cause in the first half.

For the Bearcats, coming off a good win against Rutgers on Wednesday, leading scorers Dion Dixon and Yancy Gates powered the offense for UC during the opening half as the duo netted 13 points as well as grabbing four rebounds.

As the first half ended, the Bearcats’ shots failed to hit the mark as the Mountaineers went on a 16-6 run during the final six minutes of the half, leading to a 31-30 halftime score at halftime.

As the second half opened, the offense for the Bearcats came solely from Cashmere Wright, dominating the first 10 plus minutes with seven points as he was the focal point of the bearcat offense.

Just as Wright was leading the way for the home team, Joe Mazzulla was showing flashes of his best Steve Nash impression in the second half as he spread the ball out to John Flowers and others leading to eight assists for the game.

With that being said, let’s get to the stats from tonight’s game on how the Mountaineers were able to bounce back from a loss for a huge Big East win.

Players of the Game:

West Virginia: Joe Mazzulla – 16 Points, Seven Rebounds, Eight Assists, Two Steals

Cincinnati: Cashmere Wright – 24 Points, Three Rebounds, Assist, Steal

Shooting:

West Virginia: 42.2 Percent, 19-45 Field Goals Made-Attempted

Cincinnati: 35.0 Percent, 21-60 Field Goals Made- Attempted

Free Throw Shooting:

West Virginia: 24-30 Free Throws Made-Attempted, 80.0 Percent

Cincinnati: 5-11 Free Throw Made-Attempted, 45.5 Percent

Rebounding:

West Virginia: 36 Rebounds, 11 Offensive Rebounds

Cincinnati: 27 Rebounds, 13 Offensive Rebounds

Turnovers:

West Virginia: 13 Turnovers

Cincinnati: Eight Turnovers

When Darryl "Truck" Bryant came to West Virginia three years ago, he did so as one of the crown jewels of Bob Huggins' first recruiting class for the Mountaineers. An ESPNU Top 100 prospect, graded at 92nd overall, and was expected to man the point for West Virginia's return to national prominence.

In the two-and-a-half seasons since then, Truck has been a solid point guard, averaged 10.4 points for his career, was a starter on the Mountaineers' first Final Four team in half a century and seemed to find his niche as a consistent third option on offense. However, after a very tumultuous week in Morgantown that saw the team lose two players, including leading scorer Casey Mitchell possibly for the year, West Virginia's season could hinge on Bryant's ability to be much more than that.

At 13-5, West Virginia's season has exceeded expectations thanks to their ability to adopt their coach's playing style: doing the little things, playing tough-as-nails defense and thriving on offensive rebounds. As important as those things are to succeed in college basketball, it's hard to compete in March without someone who can take over a game offensively.

That's where Truck comes in.

Of the remaining players on the West Virginia roster, Bryant is the only one with the potential to become a go-to scorer. Kevin Jones has had a very nice year, averaging nearly 14 points per game, but his offense comes from rebounds and broken plays. Deniz Kilicli has some great low-post moves, but is way too raw to depend on consistently. John Flowers and Joe Mazzulla have emerged as great "glue-guys," but neither will ever light up a scoreboard. That leaves Bryant as the Mountaineer with the best chance of tossing up a 25-point night, much like he did earlier this season against Marquette. 

If Bryant is able to improve on his current 12.1 PPG average while still running the offense it will allow the rest of the team to do what they do best. Flowers can focus on crashing the boards with fellow banger Cam Thoroughman, and Mazzulla can use his speed to get to the basket. Most importantly, Jones can stay in the paint, where he is one of the best scorers in the Big East.

Thus far in his career Bryant has yet to consistently put up numbers, but that doesn't mean he can't. With De'Sean Butler and Devan Ebanks on the roster the past two seasons Bryant was a third-option at best, and has been sharing the backcourt with the shot-happy Mitchell most of this season. Now, with Mitchell gone for at least a few games, it's time to see what Truck can do.

Coming out of high school, ESPN called Bryant "a combo guard with the ability to light it up offensively." With the teeth of the Big East schedule ahead of them, West Virginia needs that Truck Bryant to emerge. Their Big Dance chances might just depend on it.

West Virginia Men’s Basketball coach Bob Huggins announced that leading scorer senior Casey Mitchell has been suspended indefintely due to an unknown violation of team rules.

For the 2010-2011 season, Mitchell was averaging nearly 17 points per game in addition to almost four rebounds per game this season for West Virginia.

As the rest of the team moves on, West Virginia will be with only eight scholarship players for their contest on the road with No. 23 Louisville as they try to extend their five-game Big East winning streak.

For Mitchell, this is the second violation of team rules within the span of nearly four months as he was sat down in mid-October by Huggins before the regular season began in November.

After the suspension announcement today and the Dan Jennings walkout during the South Florida game on the 23rd in Morgantown, the chances of a deep run in the Big East tournament and/or NCAA tournament have been gashed for the Mountaineer faithful this season.

As more information of this situation comes up, Sports Haze will update you on the situation facing West Virginia for the remaining portion of the schedule.

This article and other breaking news can be found on SportsHaze.com.

After a heartbreaking loss to rival Marshall on the 19th, Bob Huggins and the Mountaineers left the sting of the Thundering Herd upset behind them in extending their win streak to four in Big East play this year.

Unlike in the Marshall game this week, the Mountaineers came better prepared in this game as West Virginia never relinquished the lead after grabbing it midway through the first half.

For South Florida, the offense started as well as unfortunately ended with star forward Augustus Gilchrist, who totaled 20 points for the game as well as 10 rebounds for the game.

Gilchrist accounted for nearly half of the team’s total made field goals in the game with six as South Florida combined for 16-51, also only making one three point shot in 13 attempts.

Casey Mitchell, who fell silent offensively in the last game, was able to fall back into his groove in recording a double-double of his own for WVU, collecting 13 points, in addition to 14 rebounds this afternoon.

Also for the Mountaineers, John Flowers kept his hot streak going in the past few games as he filled the stat book for West Virginia. He played the entire 40 minutes today, while keeping the team on track in the imperative Big East race.

Bob Huggins will need to move on from this win today as the Mountaineers will travel to the Louisville Cardinals. This will mark their first meeting in the program’s new KFC Yum! Center arena in downtown Louisville, replacing Freedom Hall this past season.

With that being said, let’s get to the stats of how West Virginia was able to get another win in conference play against the Bulls.

Players of the Game

South Florida: Augustus Gilchrist – 20 Points, 10 Rebounds, Block

West Virginia: John Flowers – 13 Points, Seven Rebounds, Two Assists, Three Steals, Three Blocks

Shooting:

South Florida: 31.4 Percent from the Field (Leader: Augustus Gilchrist - 50 Percent)

West Virginia: 33.3 Percent from the Field (Leader: Kevin Jones – 40 Percent)

Foul Shots

South Florida: 13-18 Free Throws for 72.2 Percent (Leader: Augustus Gilchrist – 8-11 FTs)

West Virginia: 10-16 Free Throws for 62.5 Percent (Leader: Joe Mazzulla – 3-4 FTs)

Rebounding

South Florida: 38 Rebounds, 11 Offensive Rebounds (Leader: Ron Anderson – 15 Total)

West Virginia: 38 Rebounds, 17 Offensive Rebounds (Leader: Casey Mitchell – 21 Total)

Turnovers

South Florida: 16 Turnovers (Leader: Augustus Gilchrist with Six)

West Virginia: 6 Turnovers ( Leader: Deniz Kilicli with Two)