MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Welcome back to the WVU Coliseum, which will be nearly empty today, due to COVID-19 restrictions, but nonetheless the site of one of the more interesting match-ups of this young college hoops season.
No. 19 Richmond (4-0) will make its first trip to Morgantown since 1976, armed with an undefeated record, including a 12-point victory against Kentucky, as well as an experienced starting lineup (4 seniors, 1 sophomore) that has all five players averaging in double figures.
The 11th-ranked Mountaineers (4-1) actually got a sort of a head start in preparing for the Spiders earlier last week. The team had just had Robert Morris cancel a game that was supposed to be played Dec. 9, and so the Mountaineers began to scout Richmond. Then North Texas was added to the schedule at the last moment and WVU quickly had to adjust and prepare for the Mean Green.
“After Robert Morris canceled on Wednesday, we didn’t know we were going to end up playing North Texas, so we went over the Richmond scout,” WVU guard Sean McNeil said. “They’re really talented. They beat Kentucky. They’ve got a lot of guys and they play well together. It’s going to take a lot of preparation to get ready for them.”
And this is where we bring in WVU forward Derek Culver, who imparted some knowledge on himself and his teammates following that 62-50 victory against North Texas.
“Our team is struggling; we play to our competition a lot, which I really feel like if we don’t cut that out now, it’s going to get us in the long run,” Culver said. “I feel like if we had come out and played with the intensity we used against Gonzaga, we would have blew this team out of the water right out of the gate.”
It’s rather easy to think, ‘Well, if we just played like we did against the No. 1 team in the country for the rest of the season, then things will be fine.” Maybe that works out fine in a video game, but in real life, each game presents its own different challenges, one of which is consistency is difficult to find at the college level.
We went back to last season and saw what Culver was talking about. WVU got off to a 7-0 start and then dropped a game against St. John’s in Madison Square Garden that the Mountaineers truly had no business losing. WVU struggled to put away Youngstown State. The Mountaineers were 14-2 and were being projected as a No. 2 seed in the 2020 NCAA tournament, and then lost to a Kansas State team on the road that would go on to finish last in the Big 12.
“We’ve really struggled with playing to our competition and lowering our standards,” Culver continued. “We don’t capitalize on the stuff we normally would capitalize on.”
It does work the other, way, too, which could be good news for the Mountaineers today. Go back again to last season and remember WVU traveling to Cleveland and beating then-No. 2 Ohio State. There was also the season-finale victory against then-No. 4 Baylor, which was heading for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament at the time.
So, with all of that in mind, we’re expecting an entertaining game that could wind up telling a lot about both teams. Here’s what you need to know:
TV: ESPN (Comcast 35, HD 850; DirecTV 206; DISH 140) for the 1 p.m. tip-off. BETTING LINE: WVU is favored by 7.5 points.
WHAT DOES BOB HUGGINS HAVE TO SAY
Huggins spoke about a few topics, including trying to get sophomore forward Oscar Tshiebwe back on track. Tshiebwe was held scoreless against North Texas and played only 14 minutes, because Huggins did not like Tshiebwe’s overall effort.
He also spoke about the scheduling changes due to COVID-19 and the effect it’s began to take on his players. The North Texas addition was the fifth schedule change of the season, in what has amounted to just six games thus far.
LET’S BREAK DOWN THE SPIDERS
The first thing you need to know is Richmond’s starting five plays the bulk of the minutes. Senior forward Grant Golden plays about 22 minutes per game, but teammates Nathan Cayo, Blake Francis, Tyler Burton and Jacob Gilyard all average 30 minutes or more.
Gilyard is the returning Defensive Player of the Year in the Atlantic 10 and is likely going to win that honor again. He’s averaging 4.3 steals per game and had five against Kentucky. He’s one of those smaller, but lightning-quick guys and he also dishes out 7.0 assists per game.
Francis is the 3-point shooter (10 of 28 on the season), while Golden is the big bruiser inside, who can also step out behind the 3-point arc and knock down some shots. He’s on his fifth-season of eligibility after earning a medical redshirt as a freshman after undergoing a heart procedure.
Cayo and Burton are both 6-foot-7 forwards who are athletic with good overall games. Burton leads the team in rebounding, averaging 9.0 boards per game, while Cayo is shooting an impressive 70.6% from the field. He’s only taken one 3-pointer (and made it) on the season and is 24 of 34 from the floor.
PROJECTED STARTING LINE-UPS
WEST VIRGINIA (5-1)
F–Derek Culver, 6-10, jr., 14.5 ppg, 10.7 rpg
F–Oscar Tshiebwe, 6-9, soph., 7.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg
F–Emmitt Matthews Jr., 6-7, jr., 7.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg
G–Deuce McBride, 6-2, soph., 13.7 ppg, 4.5 apg
G–Sean McNeil, 6-3, jr., 11.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg
RICHMOND (4-0)
F–Grant Golden, 6-10, sr., 15.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg
F–Nathan Cayo, 6-7, sr., 14.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg
F–Tyler Burton, 6-7, soph., 12.8 ppg, 9.0 rpg
G–Jacob Gilyard, 5-9, sr., 12.3 ppg, 7.0 apg
G–Blake Francis, 6-0, sr., 13.8 ppg, 2.0 rpg
PREDICTION TIME
I think this game is going to be closer than Las Vegas is predicting. WVU could be a little worn down mentally having just played Friday. Richmond offers a lot of obstacles, but WVU has a little deeper bench. I’ll take WVU, but no cover, 69-64.
Justin’s season picks against the spread: 2-2-1.
