Mountaineers expect another scrap in Capital Classic

West Virginia’s Gary Browne yells after forcing a held ball against Marshall in the 2013 Capital Classic, which the Mountaineers won 74-64.

 

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — While the Capital Classic has been largely one-sided during the past 23 years, West Virginia point guard Juwan Staten can attest to the intensity.

He has felt it. Man, has he felt it.

Late in the December 2012 game, Staten was kicked in the crotch by Marshall forward Robert Goff, touching off a shoving scrum in front of the West Virginia bench. Four Mountaineers were ejected, along with Goff, as WVU prevailed 69-59—one of its 18 wins in 23 seasons since the game became a yearly meetup at the Charleston Civic Center.

“Every time we play this game it’s intense, from the players to the cheerleaders to the crowd,” said Staten.

Ranked No. 22 in this week’s AP poll, West Virginia realizes there’s even more motivation for Marshall, which recently dropped five games in a 15-day stretch as the program resets under first-year coach Dan D’Antoni. An 85-67 loss at Louisville started the slide, which included home defeats against South Carolina (77-59) and Penn State (73-69).

“This game, it’s more like a personal game,” said Mountaineers senior Gary Browne, who’s 3-0 in the Capital Classic. “We know if we let down they can always beat us.

“Since I’ve been here we always win that game, so I’m looking forward to doing the same thing we’ve been doing for three years.”

Opinions vary on whether West Virginia suffered a letdown in its most recent game at Northern Kentucky. But there was no disputing how inefficient WVU looked in the first half, when it scored eight points in the first 12 minutes and led only 20-17 at halftime.

The 67-42 final score couldn’t obscure the flaws of WVU’s halfcourt offense.

“It needs to get smoother,” said Staten, who was reluctant to guess at how many of his team’s halfcourt sets are currently functional. On one hand, there’s much left to install; but even the sets WVU has been running need to be crisper.

“We spend so much time in transition because of our (pressing) defense or just turning the game into an up-and-game,” Staten said. “But when we get into conference play, teams are going to be much better and they’re going to force our offense to run our plays.”

Highlighting the lack of halfcourt production are the shooting percentages of the interior players: Devin Williams (37.8 percent), Eijah Macon (37.2 percent) and Brandon Watkins (40 percent). Only Jonathan Holton, with a team-high 33 offensive rebounds leading to putbacks, has an agreeable ratio (50 percent).

“I’d like to see our big guys make a layup—that would be refreshing,” said coach Bob Huggins. “We haven’t finished very well inside.

“You go back to the LSU game and we missed three layups in eight possessions—point-bank layups. You’ve got to make those.”

West Virginia (8-1) vs. Marshall (3-5)

Tipoff: Sunday, 4:30 p.m. at Charleston Civic Center (Root TV)

RPIs: West Virginia 35, Marshall 269

Future of the Capital Classic: D’Antoni suggested this week the series should shift to a home-and-home format, but Huggins shot down the idea.

“No,” he said. “If it’s going to continue then it needs to continue in Charleston.”

West Virginia leads the overall series 31-11.

Cheerleader endurance: It’s the best timeout of the season—or at least the most competitive—when Marshall and WVU cheer squads square off to see who can be the last partner stunt standing.

“I always get a kick out of that,” said Staten. “I try to watch from the huddle.”

Line: West Virginia favored by 17

Prediction: West Virginia 78-61







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