MORGANTOWN — Erik Stevenson’s words were spoken as if he were wearing boxing gloves rather than a basketball jersey, but they rang true in either case.
“No disrespect to our first four opponents — we’ve been waiting to play somebody big-time,” the WVU men’s basketball guard said. “How are we going to respond when somebody punches us in the mouth? We haven’t been punched in the mouth at all. We haven’t been knocked out. We’ve pretty much done all the hitting.”
With that in mind, WVU (4-0) has traveled roughly 2,600 miles to Portland, Ore. to play in the Phil Knight Legacy tournament that promises to provide competition that will punch the Mountaineers in the mouth.
Up first is No. 24 Purdue (3-0) at 10 p.m. Thursday inside Veterans Memorial Coliseum (the old home of the Portland Trail Blazers).
On the near horizon, WVU could also play No. 6 Gonzaga on Friday, and then possibly No. 8 Duke on Sunday in the tournament.
“Growing up, these are the types of games you look forward to playing in as a kid,” WVU guard Kedrian Johnson said. “It’s the big stage and big teams. I’ve played against Gonzaga before, so we want to see them again. There’s a chip on our shoulder.”
There is also one lingering question: Is this bunch of Mountaineers truly better than the ones who struggled against good teams last season while finishing 16-17?
That’s what we’re about to find out.
“You look at it as an opportunity to put yourself in a good standing nationally,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said. “Playing people early, I think is good. Let’s say we go 3-0 out there, that’s huge. That puts us in a different category of where we are because of a year ago. If you go 0-3, now you’re struggling to catch up.”
Make no mistake, WVU players are well aware of the opportunity that awaits them.
“It’s just a matter of time before you run into someone just as good as you,” Stevenson said. “When you play those teams, you have to be tougher than them. That’s what this program is built on. We’re going to try and go out and do that in Portland. Hopefully we can go out there for three games and come back ranked in the top five of the country.”
Other things to watch during the Phil Knight Legacy tournament:
Zach Edey no longer a side show
Through its three victories, Purdue has been about as defensive as anyone in the country.
The Boilermakers are holding teams to 55.7 points per game, while opponents are shooting just 35% from the floor.
The real story is junior center Zach Edey, a mountain of a man who stands 7-foot-4 and 295 pounds.
“He’s a legit 7-4,” said WVU guard Joe Toussaint, who played against Edey many times while he was at Iowa. “We’re definitely going to put him in a lot of ball screens and make him come out and guard us.”
Edey has progressed each of his first two seasons in college, but has taken a major step forward this season.
Where he was once a sort of oddity, Edey has now become a strong candidate for several postseason honors.
He’s averaging 20.7 points, 13.7 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game, while shooting 65%.
“It’s a combination of a lot of hard work that Matt (Painter, Purdue head coach) and his guys have put in to help him,” Huggins said. “I saw him when he first signed at Purdue, and he’s come a long, long way. They’ve done a terrific job with him.”
What are the Thanksgiving tournaments worth?
The NCAA selection committee is still four months away from meeting to fill out the championship bracket.
By that time, teams will have played conference games and a conference tournament, so how much weight will these big November matchups carry?
“They mean something, because they’re factored in when the committee sits down and starts ciphering,” Huggins said. “They matter. Now, of course they’re going to say that happened four months ago, but it still counts in your body of work.”
For a moment, let’s throw out a hypothetical situation where WVU wins its three games in Portland, but gets beat in its first game of the Big 12 tournament in March.
What would the committee consider more, what happened in November or getting beat early in March?
“Do they count the last whatever games more? Yeah, they’re weighted more,” Huggins continued. “No matter what they say, they’re weighted more.
“It’s the entire schedule, not just what you do in your conference, so these games should count just as much as what we do in the Big 12.”
WVU vs. No. 24 PURDUE
WHEN: 10 p.m. Thursday
WHERE: Veterans Memorial Coliseum,
Portland, Ore.
TV: ESPN2 (Comcast 36, HD 851; DirecTV 209; DISH 143)
RADIO: 100.9 JACK-FM
WEB: dominionpost.com
TWEET @bigjax3211
