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WVU v. Notre Dame: Turn back the clock

You are looking live at the box score from the last time WVU won at Notre Dame … and check out officials that night.

The Mountaineers are 1-11 here with 10 straight losses and some bad experiences along the way:

Feb. 21, 1999: WVU turns the ball over twice and wastes a four-point lead in final 43 seconds. Notre Dame’s Paul Rainey makes his first two free throws of the season with 20.1 seconds left for the final points of a 71-69 victory.

Feb. 2, 2000: Once down 17 points in the first half and later 11 in the second half, Notre Dame surges with a 15-0 run to win, 79-65.

Jan. 21, 2001: Chris Moss is ejected after his second technical foul and has to be restrained from going after officials. As he leaves the floor, Moss spits at taunting fans and accidentally hits some Notre Dame cheerleaders. WVU loses 78-61.

Feb. 20, 2002: Moss makes his return to South Bend and the Notre Dame students wear plastic shields and goggles. Chris Thomas has 26 points and 12 assists in a 89-76 victory.

Jan. 29, 2003: WVU gets outrebounded, 51-27, and the Fighting Irish finish with 22 offensive rebounds in a 88-69 win.

Jan. 7, 2004: Drew Schifino scores nine points and sits the final few minutes of a 63-52 loss. His NCAA-best streak of 48 games with at least 10 points comes to an end. Afterward, he makes the comments that ultimately contribute to his dismissal from team.

And all of that is preceded by Gordon Malone walking out on a game in 1996 … a game WVU won for its first Big East road win.

5:32: Tommie McCune is in the building and, in his first appearance since the one-game suspension that left him home for last week’s win at Pitt, is the first WVU player on the floor pushing up shots.

6:01: For the curious and the pious, WVU is 1-1 on the past two Ash Wednesdays and both were against Catholic schools: loss to Marquette (Jesuit) in Big East Tournament last year, win at Providence (Dominican) in 2010. The previous Ash Wednesday game was a win at home against Providence in 2005.

6:25: Justin Jackson and I are livid. We were going to settle a racquetball grudge before the game.

6:29: Check out Keaton Miles and his shoelaces.

6:34: Pat Driscoll, Bryan Kersey and Ray Natili are your officials tonight.

6:39: Truck is starting tonight.

6:59: Pat Connaughton is listed at 6-foot-5. That’s absurd.

7:01 Huggins does like this three-guard lineup and as much for defense as anything else. Good matchups this evening.

7:04: KJ seven rebounds away form 1,000. Only four others have done that. When he gets there, he, Jerry West and Warren Baker will be the only players with 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds. Bob Huggins is impressed: “There have only been two guys who have ever done what he’s done. When you’re one of three people at a university like this that’s had a lot of great players, that’s a heck of an accomplishment.”

7:09 Three guards, three assists on four baskets and Truck has an assist before he even takes a shot. So far, Notre Dame is only getting a good look when it can run by someone. If WVU sits down and guards, WVU makes it hard to shoot and score.

7:12: Deniz loafs and lets Cooley beat him down the floor and gets the hook. Same thing that happened at Pitt on Woodall’s three-point play. And Truck is in the book at 13:30 for an 11-6 lead.

7:16: Seems like KJ really wants to score tonight. He’s not usually like that. Getting to his spots and moving himself to his spots, and you saw that on back-to-back possessions: Baseline jumper, backs down a defender for a hoop. Scott Martin took a spill guarding KJ and got no call and then on the other end the large Tom Knight was called for a moving screen. Mike Brey, who didn’t seem to like a ticky tack call on the perimeter a little earlier, then reacted in a way that got him a technical foul. WVU is up 15-11 with the ball and two free throws out of the timeout.

7:19: Again, KJ wants to score. Truck is lining up for his free throws for the technical with all the players behind half court and KJ is walking toward his basket before he remembers what’s going on.

7:22: Getting a little frenetic and physical. Browne tries to do too much and throws it away. Kilicli misses badly for the second time in a row. Jerian Grant makes Notre Dame’s third straight 3 and we’re tied 19-19. Crowd is hot tonight. Hasn’t been that way this year here.

7:24: Notre Dame is 8-for-11/3-for-4 and has made six straight shots and three straight 3s. Irish have also turned it over three times in that span for four WVU points. All that stuff I said about WVU’s defense earlier? It’s done. Notre Dame passing it pretty well.

7:27: Notre Dame looking for quick double teams when KJ gets the ball on the block.

7:29: Officiating bingo tonight: Travel, palming, moving screen, technical foul, G46 …

7:30: Nique gets a rebound, dribbles and lives to tell about it. Free throws look pretty normal for him — one is good, one is long. He goes 1-for-2 and WVU leads 22-21.

7:31 But the Irish are picking on him on high screens and Cooley rolls. That’s two easy scores in a row.

7:35: Boy, Nique gets active minutes: 5 minutes, two rebounds, missed shot, 1-for-2 at the foul line and a foul.

7:36: PHW has been in the game for a few minutes now and hasn’t done anything, really. He hasn’t taken a shot since the St. John’s debacle, if you’re curious.

7:39: Notre Dame is 12-for-18 and 3-for-3 when a player shoots after a whistle for a timeout. That kind of night. Irish are threatening to extend here before halftime if WVU doesn’t find something.

7:40: Twitter might have broken in West Virginia if Truck dunked that … or if he was called for a charge. I’ve never, ever seen him try to dunk on someone.

7:41: One way to beat a matchup zone? How about a 30-foot arching pass into the paint. Needless to say, that shouldn’t happen.

7:45: The Notre Dame fencing team is the halftime entertainment.

7:58: The precipitous decline of Keaton Miles continues. Didn’t even take off the warmup in the first half. Nor did Aaron Brown. Have to wonder about those two right now. Really, if not for PHW, Huggins is using a one-man bench tonight.

8:00: Huggins just spent a good 45 seconds lecturing Brown, McCune and Miles…

8:03: Might see a lot of PHW because Hinds and Browne don’t have it tonight. Careless plays from both tonight. Actually, in succession.

8:06: Look on KJ’s face when Martin scored was telling — “disgusted” is the word I’d use.

8:07: That’s three giveaway turnovers by Hinds and Browne this half and eight points the other way. Notre Dame is up 10 after Hinds airballs a 3. WVU had four turnovers in the first half. ,The three in the first 4:31 here are exactly what you can’t do in this game.

8:12: Last time WVU was here, it was down 20 in the first half and Da’Sean Butler missed a game-winner … something he didn’t do much that year. It’s a 17-point game now and Da’Sean Butler isn’t walking through that door. This is a 19-4 run to start the second half and WVU is 1-for-7. The Irish haven’t t cooled off. After shooting 63.2 percent in the second half, they’re 7-for-9 in this half.

8:17: Truck goes 0-for-2 at the foul line and Dragicevich makes a 3. I’d say it’s pouring now.

8:19: Notre Dame is 21-for-31 with a pair of second-chance baskets. This is fairly ridiculous.

8:33: I will say this: Notre Dame is really shooting it, but Notre Dame is really open. They’re going to put up some historic numbers, but WVU is going to allow some historic numbers.

8:35: Curious if, or when, Huggins sits guys. Marquette is 48 hours away here.

8:39: Body language is not fit for print here. Players, coaches, fans, etc.

8:45: That’s as bad as it gets, really. Worst loss under Huggins, fewest points since the home fiasco against Cincinnati in 2008.

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Comments
  1. Foul Shot

    Hard to believe they are talking of needing to win these last 4 and they get crushed by 27. Also hard to watch this total collapse.
    Would not have thought a Huggs coached team would just totally tank.

  2. jeff, this team is not winning a championship. What they’ve regressed to, honestly, doesn’t deserve a bid in its current state. Obviously they can still make it, but tonight was a very big opportunity to make a statement and they crapped their proverbial pants on national TV. I’m not giving up just yet, but this was very discouraging.

    Is it bad to hope certain players transfer? I feel bad doing so but at times I just can’t help it.

  3. lowercase jeff

    drew – “this team is not winning a championship” ? well, for one, this speaks to my point. at what point in the regular season did you think the 07 giants, 11 huskies, 11 cardinals, 11 giants, 10 SF giants, etc, were winning a championship? or were even nearly good enough to do so. secondly, no team basketball team in west virginia has ever won the championship. why am i going to bail on this team because it appears as though they will not either? look, i have no problem reading and writing about their failures and mistakes. i chuckle, however, when people get ballsy and make bold predictions of doom after bad losses. until those people agree to not share in any future success of that season, then all theyre doing is being too cool for school. no duh the team sucks right now. no duh they are going in the wrong direction. there’s still time though, and i fail to see how people who have been watching sports 20 plus years are in such a hurry to announce their resignation of hope. you dont believe this team can turn it around? fine. go fishing.

    herhsy – i do not agree with that. at all. i may be wrong, and the W/L evidence may support you, but he brought nothing. what we miss is: teams not knowing we would never win with the 3, truck bryant being the second best player on the team, consistent defensive play, and luck. now, noreen definitely plays into #3, as he was definitely a willing defender, but for what? 12 minutes a night?

    there was an extremely interesting article on espn the other day about how perception of wvu is one thing, but numbers tell a completely different story. our offense up to that point had been extremely efficient, but terrible defense was our undoing. ill post an excerpt in a bit.

  4. lowercase jeff

    mike – apologies if this isnt kosher.

    “Over their past six outings, the Mountaineers have allowed opponents to run wild, to the tune of 1.17 points per possession. If that level of defense were extended over the entire conference season, it would make this the worst defense in the Big East — in other words, worse than Providence (1.13).”

    “The Mountaineers are not forcing misses — their past six opponents have made more than half of their 2s — and WVU’s work on the defensive boards of late has been merely average. Right now offenses playing against West Virginia are operating in a near frictionless setting.”

    “During this 1-5 stretch WVU has hauled down an incredible 45 percent of its missed shots. Huggins has said his team is “this close” (thumb and forefinger held up) to being a good team, and stats like that bear him out.”

    “The fact the Mountaineers have been in so many close games this month while allowing teams to score 1.17 points per possession is a backhanded tribute to this offense.”

  5. lowercase jeff

    we’re not going to agree on this one.

    at least until someone tells me what we miss about noreen. which game that we’ve lost would have won because kevin noreen was on the floor? come on….