SAN DIEGO — Sagaba Konate is built like a defensive end with pogo-stick hops. Ajdin Penava is built like a pogo stick.
WVU-Marshall, for all the mountain marbles in the NCAA tournament’s second round, could hinge upon the performances of their elite shot-blockers.
Konate, WVU’s 6-foot-8 sophomore, provides brawn and bounce, pinning shots with two-handed certainty and forming a wall around the basket.
His 3.29 blocks per game rank third in the country.
The spindly Penava, with only 214 pounds spread across his 6-9 frame, actually tops the nation at 4.03 per game. He admits he’s done so quietly, lacking the intimidating style that trademarks Konate’s highlight swats.
“He is way more physical and more athletic than me — he really gets up,” Penava said Saturday. “Most of his blocks are above the rim, and I usually get mine below. I’m a different player, so I’ve got my own ways.”
Most astonishing about Konate’s development is how he navigates foul trouble in an era in which defenders get little leeway in the lane. He fouled out only once in 71 career games,
Conversely, Penava has 15 foul-outs in 88 games, including the first-round upset of Wichita State, when he compiled 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. The Bosnian-born junior finished with four fouls in another 32 games.
On March 18, Penava’s 3-point stroke — and his ball-handling — could lure Konate to the perimeter.
“I was always the small forward (on European teams) because there were three or four guys taller than me,” Penava said. “So I try to use my speed and my dribble against their big guys.”
TEDDY BUCKETS
No WVU player’s minutes have fluctuated like Teddy Allen’s, but the freshman appears to be on an uptick after scoring 16 points in Thursday’s win, over Murray State.
At 6-5, Allen could find himself working against smaller defenders when the Herd uses its three- or four-guard attack.
“I feel like I’m a physical guard who can score the ball,” he said. “If I can get the ball down and I have a smaller player on me, that’s where my advantage is. I feel like that’s what we have to do against Marshall — attack their guards.”
SERIES SCUTTLEBUTT
With national writers pressing to understand why the WVU-Marshall series ended, Herd coach Dan D’Antoni advised, “You will have to ask West Virginia about that.”
A day after his counterpart Bob Huggins said Marshall “can come to Morgantown anytime they want to,” D’Antoni reiterated the series should be home-and-home or played on a neutral court.
“I’m not going to go just play at Morgantown,” he said. “We’re a Division I school. You gotta treat us like one.”
Admitting he likes needling Huggins and WVU fans, D’Antoni made a reference to the Herd featuring eight scholarship players from the state while the Mountaineers’ roster has only three.
“I coach Marshall University, where West Virginians play,” he said. “We’ll just leave it at that.”
FAMILY DIVIDED
This week marked the 20th anniversary of WVU’s Jarrod West banking in a 3-pointer to upset Cincinnati in the NCAA tournament.
But his son, Herd guard Jarrod West Jr., insisted there will be no split loyalties in today’s game.
“I wouldn’t say he’s conflicted at all,” the freshman said. “He’s definitely rooting for us really hard.”
