MORGANTOWN —
West Virginia’s men’s basketball team, determined to prove that last year’s trip to the Final Four was a look into the future rather than simply an aberration of the present, heads to Puerto Rico this weekend for an invitational tournament that is aimed at beginning them down the road to Reliant Stadium in Houston, Tex., and a return to the Final Four.
Not that we will be without basketball in these West Virginia hills, however, as Mike Carey’s 11th-ranked women’s team gets point guard Sarah Miles back from a hand injury as it hosts Duquesne on Wednesday and Delaware State on Friday.
Both the men’s and women’s teams opened their seasons with victories.
The WVU men open their tournament on Thursday against Davidson in a rare 11:30 a.m. game to open the tournament that includes such teams as Nebraska, Vanderbilt, Hofstra, Minnesota, Western Kentucky and, most notably, a North Carolina team trying to rebound from a rare down season under Roy Williams.
That, of course, is the team the Mountaineers most would like to play in a final.
“The game everyone wants to see is us and North Carolina but a lot could happen,” guard Truck Bryant said on Monday, knowing that last year the Mountaineers played in an early season tournament expecting some stiff competition and never faced one of the teams it expected to face.
“We want to set our mark here. We want people to know, don’t look at us as underdogs. We have enough talent so we don’t have to be underdogs.”
Not even if they face Carolina, one of college basketball’s most storied programs. Asked what he thought of when North Carolina is mentioned, Bryant did not mince words.
“That we can beat them. I think they are overrated. I’ve never played against them. I want to play against them,” he said.
Huggins sees the tournament as the first real challenge.
“It’s good competition,” Huggins said of the tournament. “It gets us away from here. It’s a road game. It places us in a tournament atmosphere where we can play back to back.”
First there is Davidson, one of those always-dangerous mid-majors who have been a college basketball force since the days when Lefty Driesell was their coach.
Bob McKillop now coaches them and they return three starters from a team that was 16-16 last season and missed post-season play. They have a long history against WVU with the Mountaineers holding an 18-16 advantage.
“They will try to make it a half court game,” WVU Coach Bob Huggins predicted. “Their big people get out and run well. They will pack it in and make sure we make perimeter shots. They run good offense. They pass the ball well and a very unselfish.”
And it’s been a tradition at Davidson that they can shoot, something WVU did quite well in its opener, hitting 12 3s and shooting 50 percent from the floor.
As for the women, Miles return gives them the veteran leader they need at the point.
“I told her Saturday, ‘You’ve been cleared. You’re going full speed here,’” Coach Mike Carey said.
“It feels good,” Miles said. “There’s really no pain. It’s real stiff, but other than that it feels fine. No pain at all.”
Miles was Defensive Player of the Year in the Big East as a junior and a second-team all-conference selection. She sat out the first game as true freshman Brooke Hampton filled in admirably.
WVU Sports
WVU women host Duquesne; men head to Puerto Rico
- WVU Sports
-
-
FURFARI COLUMN: Chuck Howley greatest all-around WVU athlete
Chuck Howley’s greatest fame came in football at West Virginia University and then with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
However, making the Wheeling native even more distinguished is the fact he is the only five-sport letterman in WVU athletic history. -
HERTZEL COLUMN: McCartney getting his second chance
There is a familiar saying that carries much weight around the West Virginia University football program.
“If at first you don’t succeed …” -
Musgrave, errors push WVU past TCU
In its second game of pool play at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, the West Virginia University baseball team trumped TCU, 10-3, as the Horned Frogs committed a Big 12 Championship record nine errors in the contest.
-
HERTZEL COLUMN: Jarrod West treasures time with his family
It came along too late to do me any good, but today I want to offer a very warm thank you to Jarrod West, the one-time West Virginia University basketball hero.
-
WVU in eight-team Cancun Challenge field
West Virginia University’s basketball team will be in a field with seven other teams in the 2013 Men’s Cancun Challenge, played at the all-inclusive Aventura Palace resort near Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
-
Kansas pitcher Taylor shuts down Mountaineers
In its first game of pool play against Kansas at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship, the West Virginia University baseball team was defeated, 7-2.
-
HERTZEL COLUMN: Big 12 baseball tournament is about America
All of a sudden the Big 12’s annual baseball tournament is more about America and the American way than it is about baseball.
And that makes it a wonderful thing. -
Musgrave to pitch WVU’s second game
West Virginia University baseball coach Randy Mazey believes that the change in format of the Big 12 Tournament will benefit his Mountaineers because it allows him to hold conference Pitcher of the Year Harrison Musgrave until the key second game of the tournament.
-
HERTZEL COLUMN: Bill Stewart is missed, remembered
It was Monday, the first anniversary of Bill Stewart’s sudden death while playing the 16th hole of a charity golf tournament with West Virginia University’s former athletic director and his former boss, Ed Pastilong.
-
Miles granted release from WVU
Junior forward Keaton Miles, who suffered through a disappointing sophomore season as West Virginia fell below .500, has been granted a release and will seek a transfer, according to published reports.
- More WVU Sports Headlines
-
FURFARI COLUMN: Chuck Howley greatest all-around WVU athlete
