MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Welcome to the semifinals of the Crossover Classic in Sioux Falls, S.D., where 15th-ranked West Virginia will entertain the Rams of Virginia Commonwealth, who were the seventh and truly a last-second addition to the tournament.
The Rams (1-0) got past Utah State late Wednesday night, 85-69, and we bring that up, because it’s highly unlikely VCU players and coaches got back to their hotel much before 1 a.m. EST, and now will play the Mountaineers (1-0) just 14 hours later. Legs could be a little tired for the Rams, who didn’t arrive in South Dakota until Tuesday, because they replaced Wichita State. The Shockers were in Sioux Falls on Monday, but had members of their program test positive for the coronavirus and were basically told to go home.
That’s just some food for thought on this Thanksgiving Day if you’re thinking of putting some money on this game, and it will certainly come into play when we get to our prediction.
In other news, WVU head coach Bob Huggins has seemed to settle on sophomore Deuce McBride as the Mountaineers’ lead guard. McBride started and played the bulk of the minutes in scoring a career-high 23 points in a 79-71 win against a pesky South Dakota State.
What does that mean for junior Jordan McCabe? In all honesty, it could mean a few things. Maybe it takes a little pressure off of him and allows McCabe to settle into a role he flourishes in coming off the bench. Good teams need more than one good ball-handler and having McCabe coming off the bench is not a bad option at all. It could mean some negative things, too, but just how negative those are depends a lot on McCabe. Guys don’t like to sit once they’ve been starters. That’s true at every level of basketball and McCabe has had some very good moments in a WVU uniform, which won’t soon be forgotten.
Looking in from the outside, McCabe is extremely team-oriented and mature. Speaking as a member of the media, there is no other player on WVU’s roster who is probably more well-liked than McCabe, which is saying a lot, because this is very much an entire bunch of kids who all have good stories and aren’t afraid to tell them. They’re all extremely likable and are very reminiscent of Huggins’ 2009-10 Final Four team, in terms of personalities and demeanor.
As for the other “hot take” from the S.D. State game, it was not the best introduction to college basketball for West Virginia’s newcomers. With everything that’s gone on this season under the pandemic (no exhibitions or scrimmages), that probably should have been expected.
Huggins played freshmen Isaiah Cottrell and Jalen Bridges and junior-college transfer Kedrian Johnson in the first half and probably didn’t like much of what he saw, because none of them played in the second half. We won’t go over the mistakes here, but will say this could be a tough season to break those guys in. Confidence will have to be built in practice, because there aren’t the usual handful of gimme games this season to get guys playing experience.
From there, we now take our attention to the Rams, who are 1-1 all-time against the Mountaineers, but the two schools have not played since 1985.
Here’s what you need to know:
TV: ESPN (Comcast 35, 850 HD; DirecTV 206; DISH 140) for the 2:30 p.m. tip-off. Betting line: WVU is favored by 10 points.
WHAT WAS THE S.D STATE POSTGAME CHATTER?
Taz Sherman, Huggins and McBride all gave a lot of credit to South Dakota State’s defense. The Jackrabbits, Sherman said, forced WVU players to take shots they normally don’t want to take in games.
It was true, and remember South Dakota State is a solid mid-major that returned five starters and three key reserves from last season. They played well together. Huggins also mentioned preparations were not easy for the game, because S.D. State was actually the third first-round opponent handed to the Mountaineers in a short period of time, as teams kept coming and going from the tournament’s bracket.
LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THE RAMS
VCU pulled away late from Utah State and shot a respectable 41.7% (10 of 24) from 3-point range and was also 19 of 22 from the foul line. The Rams are athletic and will supply some full-court pressure after made baskets. Utah State turned the ball over 18 times.
VCU finished 18-13 last season, but had three senior starters graduate, while maybe its top player in Marcus Santos-Silva transferred to Texas Tech.
The Rams’ lone returning starter is guard sophomore Nah’Shon Hyland, who was on the all-Atlantic 10 Freshman Team last season after averaging 9.0 points and shooting 43.4% (63 of 145) from 3-point range (his highlight package is to the right).
Hyland, who is listed at 6-foot-3, went for 23 points and was 5 of 10 from behind the arc against Utah State. Vince Williams Jr. came off the bench to score 15 points and Keyshawn Curry added 10 points and was 2 of 5 from 3-point range.
One point of interest here is VCU was out-rebounded by Utah State, 35-28, and the Aggies also added 13 offensive rebounds, which is an area Huggins would also like to exploit, especially after WVU did not dominate the boards against South Dakota State.
It looks like McBride and the WVU guards will be tested by the Rams’ full-court pressure, but the Mountaineers have the size and strength advantage inside.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS
WEST VIRGINIA (1-0)
F–Derek Culver, 6-10, jr., 7.0 ppg, 14.0 rpg
F–Oscar Tshiebwe, 6-9, soph., 7.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg
F–Emmitt Matthews Jr., 6-7, jr., 7.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg
G–Deuce McBride, 6-2, soph., 23.0 ppg, 3.0 apg
G–Sean McNeil, 6-3, jr., 16.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg
VCU (1-0)
F–Levi Stockard III, 6-8, sr., 2.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg
F–Corey Douglas Jr., 6-8, sr., 8.0 ppg, 3.0 bpg
G–Nah’Shon Hyland, 6-3, soph., 23.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg
G–Adrian Baldwin Jr., 6-0, fr., 3.0 ppg, 7.0 apg
G–Keyshawn Curry, 6-4, jr., 10.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg
PREDICTION TIME
West Virginia would like to keep Oscar Tshiebwe on the floor and out of foul trouble and Tshiebwe had a habit of playing well last year coming off a bad game. It’ll be interesting to see how the Mountaineers handle the Rams’ pressure defense, but this is a game that looks real good on paper for the Mountaineers. I’ll take the 10 points and run with them, especially considering VCU players haven’t had much time to recover from their first-round game.
WVU wins, 79-62
Justin’s season picks against the spread: 0-1.
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