The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board Because that's our custom

The dunks stop here

March 10, 2017 by Mike Casazza

One thing we have to remember about Sagaba Konate is that this is all new to him. Yeah, he’s a freshman and this is his first March, but what is Madness in Mali? He’s been in the United States for three years now.

“I think the difference is Coach Huggs always tells us to play hard. This is the tournament. It’s one and done,” Konate said after his first postseason game. “We’ve got get a good seed for the NCAA tournament.”

He has a basic understanding, and just as sure, his debut was promising for the Mountaineers. It was assertive, controlled and a bit vengeful. The last time Konate saw Texas, he was involved in the “dunk of the year.”

He didn’t care, but he didn’t forget.

“I said after last time at home, ‘Next time, I’ve got to catch him,'” Konate said.

 

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‘I know I can improve.’

by Mike Casazza

 

“There’s going to be one game,” Tarik Phillip said from a seat in front of his locker Thursday night, “when y’all are like, ‘Oh, man, Esa’s back, and that’s bad news for everybody.'”

But what about Esa’s back, the one that was injured and kept him out of three games?

“I’m feeling good,” Ahmad said after making one basket and one free throw in 16 minutes against Texas. “It’s a lot better.”

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So, here come the Wildcats

by Mike Casazza
webersez

 

Kansas losing, TCU surging and Monte Morris whispering in a triple-double’s ear are your subplots at what is now a there-for-the-taking Big 12 tournament. West Virginia is the favorite now — technically, WVU remains the favorite — but all of that overlooks this: Kansas State is still standing.

Does that need a question mark?

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Big 12 quarterfinal: (2) WVU 63, (10) Texas 53

by Mike Casazza

So the Sprint Center WiFi was what we thought it was, and it abandoned me in the second half. I have many feelings, theories and, of course, solutions. I will not divulge them here. Fortunately, I and we didn’t miss much in the second half. West Virginia, ranked 11th and seeded No. 2, did its most and best damage in the first half. I thought the run to close the first 20 minutes was telling. The start of the second half saw the lead balloon and shrink, but it never felt like Texas would find the surge for which it was looking.

The Mountaineers emerged from a muddy finish with a spot in the semifinals against … Kansas State. As expected, the Big 12’s Final Four is Iowa State, TCU, WVU and K-State. We’ll talk more today about the Mountaineers and about the matchup with K-State, but for now let’s talk about last night.

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Big 12 quarterfinal: (2) WVU v. (10) Texas

March 9, 2017 by Mike Casazza

You are looking live at the logo for this year’s Big 12 tournament, which just got real. TCU has beaten Kansas, the No. 1 team in the polls and this tournament that played without suspended Josh Jackson and still hit 82 points. The Horned Frogs were once 17-7 and 6-5 in the Big 12 before losing the final seven regular-season games. They won last night and became just the second team in six years of this 10-team tournament format to win first- and second-round games.

No one’s safe here. We know that.

Now Texas, which had also lost seven in a row before winning last night, will attempt to become the third team to win on the first and second day. Two in six years is one thing. Two in one day is another. But why not? Say what you will about the Longhorns having to play last night and then again today, but they have momentum and WVU hasn’t played a game since Friday.

We’ve covered the many angles except one, and I think this one matters tonight. West Virginia needs to score.

Trenchant, no?

Texas is not especially prolific on offense and can be exploited on defense. The Longhorns are 3-17 when they score 69 points or less and 3-13 then the opponent is at or above 70.

I know, I know. Texas is 11-21 and loses more than it wins … but 20 of 32 game with fewer than 70 points while opponents gone above 70 on 16 occasions. Hmm. If WVU reaches 70 tonight, that’ll be the 200th time under Bob Huggins. WVU is 167-32 in the first 199. The Mountaineers have only been under 70 four times this season, and they’re 3-1.

Texas doesn’t have a big-time scorer or shooter. Jarrett Allen gets some of his off entry passes, which WVU is going to try to deny, and some more off rebounds. He’s very good, but he’s not streaky. The Longhorns oftentimes have to search for points and/or for scorers.

But they’re capable. They were bobbing in the water last night until they found a spark. Texas scored 31 points in the first 27 minutes, 11 seconds and then found 30 in the final 12:49. But point a finger at Texas Tech, too. The Red Raiders and a 42-31 lead with 10:35 to go and went ice cold. Nine points the rest of the way.

The history of this event — and tournament play in general — suggests there will be a gap between WVU and Texas, but we also know WVU can go through costly lulls and droughts. This can be agreeable or this can be arduous, and the difference is how consistent the Mountaineers are offensively. We just saw what can and does happen when a top team doesn’t bring it.

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On “new” WVU’s first and lasting impressions

by Mike Casazza

As it relates to West Virginia basketball, revisiting the past is certainly more fun than experiencing it as it happened. There were some dark days at the Coliseum, when the Mountaineers were bowing out early in postseason appearances and generally bombing in March. This is nuts, but it’s true: WVU went 7-1 in the 2010 postseason and then went 3-9 in the five years that followed and didn’t win one conference tournament game. The win against TCU in last season’s Big 12 quarterfinal ended that streak.

Here’s another oddity…

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‘Most of the quiet ones are assassins’

by Mike Casazza

 

Iowa State’s Monte Morris and Oklahoma State’s Jawun Evans were named first-team all-conference, and Kansas’ Frank Mason was the player of the year. That’s three point guards, and that means there was no room for a player of Jevon Carter’s caliber. Morris and Evans are content with their spot but also convinced Carter is just as worthy.

They’ve gone against him a few times now, and they described what that’s like.

“He sits down the whole time,” Evans said. “Most guards stand up. He just sits down and plays defense the whole time.”

If someone can’t drive past Carter when he lowers down into his stance, he has to pass it. Carter then changes his focus and tries to make sure his opponent doesn’t catch another pass.

“The way he face-guards you and makes it hard for you to catch it without fouling is amazing,” Morris said.

The skill is vital in the Big 12. Kansas senior Frank Mason, who is the Big 12’s player of the year and leading scorer, as well as Evans, Morris, Carter and Texas Tech junior Keenan Evans lead their team in scoring.

WVU’s press tries to make ball-handlers pass the ball, but Carter does what he can to make sure teammates don’t pass the ball back to the point guard. More often than not, Carter is minimizing a top scorer.

“I think it’s just knowing how to place his body as far as where I’m at and where the ball is and trying to keep me off the ball,” said Morris, who was 4 for 14 and had just two assists against WVU in a home loss on Jan. 31. “His body’s solid, and he’s got great footwork.”

Shaka Smart is ready to roll

by Mike Casazza

For the second straight season, Texas Tech lost as the No. 7 seed and advanced the N0. 10 onto West Virginia. The Mountaineers, seeded second once again, and Texas play the day’s third quarterfinal at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.

The Longhorns don’t really have anything to play for except the automatic bid and avoiding a three-game season sweep by WVU this season, so they’re eager to let it fly.

Q. Coach, just thoughts about playing West Virginia? You guys exerted a lot of energy tonight. They will take more out of you. What are your thoughts about playing West Virginia?
SHAKA SMART: Excited. Excited about the opportunity to play ’em. One of the two teams that played just now was going to get the chance to play them and one of them was going to go home. So we’ll definitely take the opportunity to play them.

We played them in two games. One at our place, one at their place. I thought we had some stretches where we really played well. They keep coming at you in waves. They’ve got a toughness about them. That obviously comes from Coach Huggins and his staff and the players they recruit, and I think for us it’s about turning the page quickly from this game, and as Snoop said, letting our hair down and being aggressive and playing with nothing to lose.

Mike Carey has a fan

by Mike Casazza

West Virginia’s women’s team set the bar earlier this week and might get rewarded with home games in the NCAA tournament, which would be another win for Mike Carey and deserved, to say the least, given his history of postseason placement. (Long story short, the top 16 seeds are hosts for the first two rounds. WVU is projected to be a No. 7 seed. In the same pod, Stanford is projected to be a No. 2 seed but can’t be a host because of a site scheduling conflict. Since it’s No. 2 v. No. 15 and No. 7 v. No. 10, the No. 7 gets to be the host. Lots of moving parts there, but it’s a possibility.)

If this happens, figure Bob Huggins will try to get to the Coliseum. He’s been a Carey fan for years, hence his Carey-themed salvo to begin his media availability Wednesday, but he caught the fever during the run to the program’s first conference tournament title since 1989.

“I watched the semifinal and the final game,” he said before his team’s shootaround Wednesday at the Sprint Center. “Probably the only time in my life I watched a women’s game. And I watched two of them.”

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WVU has Texas scouted

by Mike Casazza
textech

 

Once again, the unexpected has happened. Texas, the last-place team in the Big 12 and the No. 10 seed in the conference tournament, ended a seven-game losing streak and upset — upset? — the No. 7 seed Texas Tech. The Red Raiders crumbled at the end of this season, and the Longhorns will face 11th-ranked West Virginia, the No. 2 seed, at 7 p.m. on ESPNU in today’s third quarterfinal

This is of course the third time the two have played this season. The Mountaineers won the first two games by two and 15 points, and this means WVU will get one more — and maybe last — look at freshman forward Jarrett Allen. He’s made 13 of 16 shots and averages 17 points and seven rebounds against WVU.

“Allen’s pretty good,” WVU coach Bob Huggins said. “They don’t have anybody else up on the same caliber, but they’ve got a bunch of guys. They throw guys in there, and the guy making shots stays.”

Josh Eilert, the team’s coordinator of operations who’s filled in for assistant Ron Everhart since Everhart had back surgery in December, is in charge of the scouting report, as he was for the two regular-season games. Here’s what he had to say.

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