MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Good day from the WVU Coliseum, where TCU visits after putting on a 98-67 victory against the Mountaineers earlier this season in Fort Worth, Texas.
Much has changed for West Virginia since that game. The jury is still out whether the losses of Esa Ahmad and Wes Harris (both were dismissed from the team earlier this month) will help the younger players on WVU’s roster develop quicker, although Bob Huggins remains optimistic.
“I thought Jordan [McCabe] played really well [against Baylor]. He got us into what we needed to get into,” Huggins said. “Obviously, Drew [Gordon] had a breakout game. If those guys can continue to get better and we can win some games at home and go on the road with some confidence, I think we can move up the standings a little bit.”
What we do know is Beetle Bolden (high ankle sprain) has likely played his final game this season — according to Huggins — for the Mountaineers (10-17, 2-12 Big 12) and Brandon Knapper (neck) is not practicing, which opens the door for McCabe and Jermaine Haley to play major minutes. They both played 38 minutes in last Saturday’s loss against Baylor and they responded with a combined 27 points and nine assists with just one turnover. That was the first time this season both guards scored in double figures in the same game and finished with more assists than turnovers, which is a positive sign.
What we also know is TCU (18-9, 6-8) will have the services of forward Kouat Noi, who is back from injury, but the Horned Frogs are still relatively short-handed and are down to a rotation of seven players, so foul trouble could be a factor today, if West Virginia can get the ball inside to Derek Culver and let him go to work.
Here’s what you need to know:
TV: ESPNU for the 7 p.m. tip-off. BETTING LINE: TCU is favored by 3.5 points.
THREE GOOD QUESTIONS
What happens to WVU’s guards if McCabe or Haley gets in foul trouble or are ineffective? The Mountaineers would have to depend a lot on junior Chase Harler, who has struggled this year shooting 36 percent from the field. For those who would like to see freshman Trey Doomes get more playing time, it’s possible, but Huggins said Monday Doomes’ playing time would be more “situational,” because of a lack of a consistent outside shot and ball-handling skills. At the beginning of the season, the Mountaineers’ depth chart was probably its deepest at the guard positions, but now they are counting on three guys.
What does the matchup look like for Culver? West Virginia’s 6-foot-10 freshman will likely be matched up with TCU’s 6-11 freshman Kevin Samuel, who went for 10 points and nine rebounds in the first meeting against West Virginia. Expect Noi and senior forward JD Miller to add a lot of help, but where the Mountaineers are hurting in guard depth, TCU is hurting in depth at the forward and center spots. Hard to double-team Culver if guys get in foul trouble early.
Does TCU have the Big 12’s best player in senior guard Alex Robinson? Going back to a couple of weeks ago, Huggins did not hide the fact that he believed Robinson might be the Big 12’s Player of the Year. “He’s [sixth] in the country in assists,” Huggins said. “There’s no one else in our league that can say that. I don’t know what everyone else is thinking.” Robinson had 14 points and 10 assists in the first game against WVU. He also had a double-double (12 points, 10 assists) in the Horned Frogs’ 75-72 win against Iowa State last Saturday, a win that put TCU right back in the hunt for an at-large spot in the NCAA tournament. He’s shooting a solid 44.2 percent from the field, but is also averaging 3.5 turnovers per game. It will be interesting to see how other Big 12 coaches view Robinson versus Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver or Kansas’ Dedric Lawson.
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