CHARLESTON —
In the end, as the sellout crowd of 11,512 fans walked out of the Civic Center Coliseum here, they were talking mostly about the fight that nearly was, about a battle royal in the final minute and a half that started with an intentional tripping of West Virginia University’s Juwan Staten by Marshall’s Robert Goff and ended with a West Virginia victory, 69-59.
Indeed, that was the exclamation point to a most contentious evening, one in which Deniz Kilicli took charge inside with 21 points and where the Mountaineers dominated the paint, doubling Marshall’s output there with 36 points to just 18 for the Thundering Herd.
But this, in many ways, was a victory not so much of talent, not even so much of a WVU will that was iron on this evening, but instead of some nifty coaching by Bob Huggins, who is now 713 wins into what surely will be a Hall of Fame career.
Indeed, it was the scouting report that had the Mountaineers hammering the ball inside, in part because they had a bit of an edge there with Kilicli and Aaric Murray, along with Kevin Noreen, but also because Marshall acted as though it didn’t want any part of it.
Oh, they banged and talked some trash but in the end, this was Kilicli’s assessment:
“Their bigs don’t want to guard nobody.”
And so, from the time WVU took the lead late in the first half, that was the advantage that WVU tried to capitalize on.
It was not, however, all the coaching Huggins would do on this night.
Late in the first half, everything seemed to be going WVU’s way. They had scored six straight points and had taken the lead and had just gotten a rebound when Huggins called time out.
Why then, with his team streaking?
There was a reason. He wanted to go to his 1-3-1 defense.
It was a surprise move, a shocking move, and Marshall had no idea what hit it.
“We confused them a bit,” point guard Juwan Staten said. “Until then Huggs hadn’t used it much, and when he did it was when we were behind. They weren’t expecting it.”
It was so effective that it led to three straight turnovers, two straight baskets and a third on a slam dunk at the buzzer that was waved off by the officials because it had come a little bit too late.
The second bit of coaching was pure Huggins at his best. It came again after a timeout, WVU up 52-46 with 4:57 left.
Huggins had inserted five new players into the game, one of whom was Keaton Miles. They took the ball out on the side near halfcourt/ Two passes later, Miles had sneaked in the back door and taken a nifty pass from Kevin Noreen and slammed it with such a force that the entire Civic Center seemed to shake as the crowd broke loose.
The lead had jumped to eight and the air went out of the Herd, WVU never wavering and putting it away after Goff expressed his exasperation by tripping Staten to set off the fireworks.
After that, it was a rollicking WVU student section cheering the team to the end.
At one point they chanted “Warm up the bus! Warm up the bus!” at the beaten Marshall team and at another point it was “Marshall High School, Marshall High School.”
They had reason to cheer. This was probably the best WVU has played this year, and it comes as a direct result of Huggins pushing them hard following their trip to Florida in which they lost two of three games during the Old Spice Classic.
“Huggins really put us through it,” Kilicli said. “He yelled at us. We were on that treadmill a lot. But it was good for us. We came together.”
And now they find themselves in the heart of their non-conference schedule, coming home to face an unbeaten Virginia Tech team on Saturday afternoon, then going to Duquesne before heading to Brooklyn to face John Beilein and his unbeaten, No. 3-ranked Michigan Wolverines.
Email Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @bhertzel.
Bob Herzel
Dominant Deniz
Mountaineers take total control inside, battle by Marshall, 69-59
- Bob Herzel
-
-
HERTZEL COLUMN: Irvin’s dreads are gone now he must rebuild reputation
A couple of days back Bruce Irvin sat down in a barber’s chair — stylist’s chair, if you prefer — and made a dramatic and what had to be traumatic move.
He had his dreadlocks removed. -
HERTZEL COLUMN: Flying WV logo draws attention outside country
Sometimes you hit a nerve, as we did a while back when we wrote about the wide reach of West Virginia University’s flying WV logo.
It has meant a lot to a lot of people. -
Seahawks’ Bruce Irvin suspended four games
Bruce Irvin, one of only two West Virginia University defensive linemen ever to be selected in the first round of the NFL draft, will miss the first four games of the 2014 National Football League season because of a failed test for performance-enhancing drugs.
-
HERTZEL COLUMN: Opportunity to see birth of greatness
Sometimes things happen and the significance of them isn’t fully grasped immediately. So it is with the approval of the TIFF financing for a baseball stadium just off I-79 here in Morgantown.
Obviously, this a boon for the West Virginia University baseball program of Randy Mazey, which gains instant creditability. -
Musgrave ranks among top pitchers in college baseball
West Virginia University’s redshirt sophomore left-hander Harrison Musgrave’s spectacular season has reached the pinnacle of the heights a collegiate pitcher can attain as he has been named a finalist for the College Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher of the Year Award.
-
Musgrave may be rested against OSU
It’s been a fun ride for West Virginia University baseball this season, coming out of nowhere to reach the final weekend with a chance to win the regular-season Big 12 championship.
But coach Randy Mazey is not allowing the Mountaineers to get carried away with that thought. -
HERTZEL COLUMN: WVU Tier 3 bidding goals are ambitious
They are re-opening the bidding at West Virginia University’s athletic department for Tier 3 media rights, but judging by the vision they have shown in putting it together, this is becoming something as ambitious, if not profitable, as the national television deals in which they have a stake.
-
NFL draft signals new era for WVU
This year’s NFL draft signified that West Virginia University is beginning a new era of football, one that is very different from the time that passed in the previous 100 years.
-
HERTZEL COLUMN- Can money buy WVU happiness as Big 12 member?
=Let me put the dummies to rest right away.
Financially, moving to the Big 12 was the right move for West Virginia University. -
WVU’s basketball team to play at Missouri
West Virginia University’s basketball team did nothing to merit it Tuesday, but its life in the Big 12 was just made a whole lot tougher on two levels.
- More Bob Herzel Headlines
-
HERTZEL COLUMN: Irvin’s dreads are gone now he must rebuild reputation
