Apparently Georgetown’s leading scorer and top shot-maker Austin Freeman will not play tonight. Advantage, West Virginia as it marches toward a top-four finish in the Big East and a two-round bye in the conference tournament.

Yeah, big scorer, good shooter misses a game and the scale tips in the other team’s favor. However, Freeman is a guard and the Mountaineers admit that, well, they say they sometimes struggle against guards and the things guards do.

“Teams see we don’t guard the ball well and they try to go to the rim,” said WVU’s Wellington Smith. “They see we don’t handle screens and they try to ball-screen us. They watch tape.”

Bob Huggins watches games and sees what everyone else sees … and that group includes upcoming opponents. Cincinnati, for example, had been shooting the basketball very poorly. Coach Mick Cronin was kind when he said his team is “not the best shooting team in the world.”

The Bearcats instead make their living on Deonta Vaught creating and guys getting close to score or create reboundable shots. Cincinnati thrives inside.

So what did the Bearcats do?

The Bearcats entered as the second-worst team in the 16-team conference in 3-point shooting. They were 0-for-9 in a win Wednesday, but started 7-for-10 against WVU (22-6, 11-5 Big East).

“They did what everyone else does to us,” Huggins said following the 74-68 victory before 12,598 in the Coliseum. “They spread us, ran ball screens and played off the dribble. It’s an effective way to play if you’ve got guys who are going to keep making 3s.”