MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — We welcome you to the WVU Coliseum, where the 14th-ranked West Virginia men’s basketball team plays lucky Game No. 13 today (more on that in a second) in what will be a top 25 showdown against No. 4 Texas, which has won five straight since coming up short at home against Villanova on Dec. 6.
The Longhorns (9-1, 3-0 Big 12) began the season ranked No. 19 and have steadily climbed up the polls so far, which has suddenly quieted that hot-seat talk for Texas head coach Shaka Smart, who had gone a combined 54-42 (25-29 in Big 12 play) over the last three seasons. The last time Texas visited the Coliseum, it turned out to be the worst loss Smart had been a part of, but so much has changed since then.
First, we get to the importance of Game 13 for the Mountaineers (9-3, 2-2). Prior to the season, and with the world changing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA set a minimum of 13 games played for teams in order to be considered for the NCAA tournament. The Mountaineers will reach that minimum today, having had three games canceled along the way due to positive tests by the opposing team, who were quickly replaced and played.
Others haven’t been as fortunate. Duke has played just six games. Villanova is pausing team activities for a second time. No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 2 Baylor went into lockdown earlier this season, which caused a meeting between the two top-ranked teams to likely be canceled.
All things considered, WVU head coach Bob Huggins said there will be no sigh of relief for reaching the NCAA minimum. Why?
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in our guys doing the right thing,” Huggins said. “If you have followed closely, we haven’t had a positive COVID-19 test. Our guys, we sat them down when they first came back and said, ‘Fellas, this is on you. If you’re going to run downtown and hang out and party and have people around you that you don’t know, then we’re going to have a miserable season and you’re going to have a miserable season.’ They have to stay close to their teammates and can’t bring other people in and they’ve done a terrific job. You think about going this long and we haven’t had a positive, and we’ve been tested seemingly 15 times a week. We were tested (Thursday and Friday) and we’ll be tested again this morning (before the Texas game). They know what’s coming.”
Staying free of the coronavirus and doing the right things has now become a source of pride among WVU players.
“I’m not going to say it’s a surprise for us (that no one has tested positive), because we’ve all been trying to do the right thing just to have these games and continue to stay on the floor,” WVU guard Taz Sherman said. “We’ve been holding everybody accountable. We’re aware of were we’re going and we have a mask on and we just try to be as responsible as possible. None of us have been complaining about the tests. We felt the hurt of the Big 12 (tournament) being canceled last year and we don’t want that this year. We did a lot of work this summer and we don’t want all of that to go to waste.”
So, the Longhorns come to town in what is a crucial match-up. 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: West Virginia is a 2-point favorite.
WHAT DOES BOB HUGGINS HAVE TO SAY?
The WVU head coach talked about the confidence Sherman is playing with this season. He averaged 5.3 points per game last season and struggled with consistency, but a year later, Sherman is coming off the bench scoring 12.0 points per game and not hesitating to shoot the ball at all.
Shooting will be something to watch today, because the Mountaineers are last in the Big 12 in that category and Texas just happens to lead the conference in field-goal percentage defense.
“To a large degree, their defense is good, because of the athleticism they have,” Huggins said. “They’ve got shot-blocker after shot-blocker and shot-changer after shot-changer. They’re guards are good. They’ve got guards who have been in this league for quite a while and understand and they put a lot of pressure on the ball.”
A LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS
Texas point guard Matt Coleman III will be making his 112th career start today, which makes him the most experienced guard in the Big 12 and maybe the entire country. His running mates are Andrew Jones, who survived leukemia to make a triumphant return to the college game, as well as Courtney Ramey. Between the three of them, they’ve played in 274 games.
Combined with experience at guard, Jericho Sims is a 6-foot-10 center who can block shots and defend and Texas added 5-star recruit Greg Brown, who if it were not for Cade Cunningham at Oklahoma State, would be the favorite for Big 12 Freshman of the Year.
A 6-foot-11, Kai Jones was a part-time starter for Texas last season, but is now coming off the bench, which adds even more size to deal with. Texas is third in the Big 12 in rebounding — right behind WVU — so we could see a real battle on the glass today.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS
WEST VIRGINIA (9-3, 2-2 Big 12)
F–Derek Culver, 6-10, jr., 13.8 ppg, 10.3 rpg
F–Jalen Bridges, 6-7, fr., 3.4 ppg, 1.5 rpg
F–Emmitt Matthews Jr., 6-7, jr., 7.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg
G–Deuce McBride, 6-2, soph., 15.3 ppg, 4.2 apg
G–Sean McNeil, 6-3, jr., 9.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg
TEXAS (9-1, 3-0 Big 12)
F–Jericho Sims, 6-10, sr., 6.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg
F–Greg Brown, 6-9, fr., 12.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg
G–Courtney Ramey, 6-3, jr., 13.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg
G–Matt Coleman II, 6-2, sr., 13.7 ppg, 4.6 apg
G–Andrew Jones, 6-4, jr., 13.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg
PREDICTION TIME
Let’s state the obvious and say this would be a better match-up size-wise if Oscar Tshiebwe had not decided to transfer. Now that’s out of the way. Texas does not score a ton of points, but they have the edge in experience and matching up against Brown looks difficult on paper. This looks like a close Texas win and cover to me, 71-66.
Justin’s season picks against the spread: 3-6-1.
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