Bob Huggins joined Mike Carey in the top 25 Monday — that makes nine men’s teams in the poll — and added to the similarities between the two coaches. They might not look much alike, but watch them on the sideline, get a look at their teams on the floor, and they’re very much the same kind of coaches.

“They’re both really into intensity and playing physically,” said Craig Carey, who is Mike Carey’s son and a walk-on for Huggins’ team. “Instead of running real pretty plays, they’re both more into gritty, tough offense and tough defense.

“They want to get into people. They really like to intimidate and play physical.”

Neither coach is going to recruit the best of the best, although Carey has entertained and landed some elite recruits while at WVU. Mostly, though, those top-shelf players go to top-shelf programs, the kind of places where a coach can pick who he wants and the player is honored to be chosen.

Yet Carey and Huggins win, and usually it’s because they’ve instilled in their players an instinct to want the loose ball, the tough rebound, the critical and-1 more than the opponent. That can trump talent, especially if it spreads to the things both coaches value most.

“They both feel like if they can outrebound people and guard people, they’re going to win most of their games,” Craig Carey said.