West Virginia travels to Kansas armed with a better defense

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Before West Virginia even takes the floor against No. 3 Kansas at 4 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse, the Mountaineers have already gone worst-to-first.

In defense, that is, which has always been a trademark of the more successful teams coached by Bob Huggins.

No. 16 WVU (11-1) enters the game holding opponents to just 35.9% shooting from the floor, which tops the Big 12.

A season ago, that number was a putrid 45.8%, which was last in the league and 291st in the country.

“Nobody has ever stopped somebody that didn’t want to,” Huggins said during a conference call on Thursday. “I just think our resolve to guard is a little bit better.”

West Virginia has adjusted the way it defends ball screens, a strategy devised by assistant coach Ron Everhart earlier this season.

The 3-point line was also moved back more than a foot this season, but Huggins does not believe that deserves the credit for the Mountaineers holding teams to just 25.4% from behind the arc, also No. 1 among Big 12 teams.

“The biggest thing about moving the line back is you have less room in the corner and you have more guys stepping out of bounds,” Huggins said. “The shots that people make are step-in shots, and you get a lot of those from dribble penetration, and as the season has gone along, I do think we’re doing a better job of stopping penetration and not having to leave our guy to go stop a ball handler.

“The ideal thing is guard your man and not need so much help.”

The bigger picture in going worst-to-whatever for the Mountaineers are ultimately found in the Big 12 standings.

WVU was buried at the bottom last season, the first last-place finish for the Mountaineers in any league since the 2001-02 season in the old Big East days.

Kansas (10-2) counters with its own solid defense. The Jayhawks are third in the Big 12 in holding teams to 37.7% shooting and are the only team in the conference still shooting better than 50%.

The Jayhawks and Mountaineers are also the top two rebounding teams in the league.

“I think we’re both going to rebound. We’re both going to guard,” Huggins said. “I think it comes down to being able to make some shots.”

With consecutive road games against Kansas followed by Oklahoma State on Monday, the Mountaineers have a huge opportunity to show just how far they’ve come.

“We’ve been trying to prepare them from the beginning, that this is going to be hard,” Huggins said on the opening of conference play. “This isn’t going to be easy. We start out with, I think, two of the better teams in the league. Oklahoma State has some losses, but they lost the key (point guard Isaac Likekele) to what they do for five games. He’s back now, so I think they’re one of the better teams in the league. Obviously Kansas is one of the better teams in this league.”

What Bill Self said

Following a 78-53 victory against West Virginia at Allen Fieldhouse last season, Kansas coach Bill Self said the Mountaineers’ poor season was simply a bump in the road.

During his weekly press conference, Self said the Mountaineers have returned to the national rankings by taking on Huggins’ work ethic and attitude.

“They got good at the end of the season last year, and a lot of their pieces are returning,” Self said. “They’re back to playing like West Virginia played a couple of years ago, without question.”

Self and Huggins have always shared a spirited relationship, with Huggins once giving Self a custom-made pullover before a game at the WVU Coliseum.

“Huggs is the fourth winningest coach in college basketball,” Self said. “He’s really good. And — I don’t know if you know this, he’s kind of a colorful fellow. That also creates some interest that makes it fun. So, I think West Virginia coming into our league was really good for basketball.”

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