MORGANTOWN —
When you have reached the depths that West Virginia University had reached through its first four games of the 2012-13 basketball season, losing three of those games and looking in them as though you might never win another, the next time on the floor you would settle for even just a little bit of improvement.
The Mountaineers did not stop there as they played their home opener on Tuesday night, taking some giant steps in pounding an overmatched and undermanned VMI team, 94-69, before 7,531 at the Coliseum.
Everything seemingly improved, except for the Mountaineers’ health, for during the game both Dominique Rutledge and Kevin Noreen, a pair of big inside players coach Bob Huggins is counting on, suffered what seemed to be ankle sprains, Rutledge’s looking to be the more serious of the two, and senior transfer Matt Humphrey didn’t play at all because he tweaked his surgically-mended shoulder during practice.
The shooting improved from a team that was hitting only 39.8 percent of its shots at game time into a team that would shoot 45.1 percent, many of them layups and dunks as they dominated for 60 points in the paint.
The ball handling went from a team that had accounted for 44 assists to 51 turnovers into a team that recorded 20 assists to just eight turnovers, Gary Browne running the show with seven assists and nary a misplay.
More important, Juwan Staten seemed far more comfortable as a point or wing guard than in the earlier games, scoring 18 points to lead seven players into double figures on 7-of-10 shooting, with seven rebounds and three assists.
“He makes us look good,” said Browne, when asked to compare the point play with last year’s. “We’ve got more leadership on the team now. We are making plays and making them put pressure on the guards.”
And when the opponents try to pressure the guards, that makes things open up inside for Deniz Kilicli, who played only two first-half minutes when he got into instantaneous foul trouble. He came back in the second half to score 13 points, while Aaric Murray, continuing to try and figure out how Huggins wants the game played, scored 13 points and had nine rebounds and a couple of blocked shots.
While Huggins saw improvement in Murray, he still emphasizes one point.
“I need Murray to play hard all the time,” the coach said between coughs from what sounded like an awful chest cold. “I don’t need him to play hard after I call a timeout and rip him. He’s making progress, but he’s not close yet.”
Murray, however, saw progress in the way the team was playing, and he wasn’t talking about the shooting, running, defending or rebounding. He was talking about the chemistry, something that had been badly lacking in those first four games.
“We were cheering for each other,” Murray noted. “When my teammates were coming out of the game, they weren’t pouting; they weren’t staying off to themselves. What was hurting us wasn’t talent; we’ve got that.”
The talent, in the end, is what they have to allow to carry them into the brand of basketball Huggins wants, which is fast, faster and fastest. Pushing the ball up the court, pushing the defense out and letting the big men clean up anyone who gets loose, that is the formula, and it was there against VMI.
“We get points a lot of different ways,” said Staten. “Coach is happy when we get a lot of points off turnovers.”
In this game the Mountaineers had 20 points off turnovers, many of them resulting in fast breaks that Staten either finished or assisted on.
“He played a lot better,” Huggins said. “He pushed the ball, which we need him to do, and got us easy opportunities. I think he did more than push it; I think he looked up the floor better. I think he advanced the ball up the floor better. He was better at the defensive end.
“He made some rotations and got his hands on some balls. He made a couple of shots, but we’re kind of counting on him to get us easy baskets. Today he did.”
The Mountaineers return to action against Marshall at the Charleston Civic Center Coliseum next Wednesday.
Email Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @bhertzel.
WVU Sports
WVU shows improvement in rout of VMI
- WVU Sports
-
-
WVU wins regular-season finale
The West Virginia University baseball team guaranteed itself a Top 4 finish in the Big 12 Conference standings with a 5-4 victory at No. 16 Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
-
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. -
FURFARI COLUMN: Harrick greatest WVU two-sport coach
The late Steve Harrick was the longest-serving, most-successful two-sport head coach in West Virginia University’s athletic history.
-
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.
-
WVU falls to Oklahoma State, 5-0
The West Virginia University baseball dropped its fifth consecutive game with a 5-0 loss to No. 16 Oklahoma State on Friday evening at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
-
Reaves rejoins Carey as an assistant coach
Mike Carey has run through a lot of assistant basketball coaches during his time at West Virginia University, so it comes as no surprise that he has started repeating assistants.
Carey announced on Friday that Sharrona Reaves has returned as an assistant on his West Virginia staff. -
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.
-
FURFARI COLUMN: Crutchfield ‘miracle man’ at West Liberty
Jim Crutchfield, who learned the value of “aggressive defense” in basketball as a player at the old Roosevelt-Wilson High School in Clarksburg, continues to parlay that play phase with others to lead the nation in scoring as well as achieve smashing success as an NCAA Division II head coach.
- More WVU Sports Headlines
-
WVU wins regular-season finale
