MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Though Gary Browne hasn’t played since the last time West Virginia faced Baylor on Feb. 28, coach Bob Huggins sounds moderately hopeful the senior guard could be available for Thursday’s rematch in the Big 12 tournament.
The return of all-conference point guard Juwan Staten doesn’t seem as imminent.
“We’re getting closer to those guys being ready to go, and I think Gary’s closer than Wannie,” Huggins said on his radio show Monday night.
By the time West Virginia (23-8) tips off in the conference quarterfinals, some 12 days will have passed since Browne suffered a sprained ankle at the outset of a 78-66 loss in Waco.
MORE: View the Big 12 tournament bracket
Unlike Staten, who has missed three games while dealing with a knee ailment, Browne has practiced several times and reportedly showed progress during Monday’s workout.
“He was way, way better, but he’s still not game ready,” Huggins said.
Staten paces the Mountaineers with 14.5 points, 4.6 assists and 31 minutes per game, and his 157 free-throw attempts rank fifth in the conference. While Browne isn’t typically an offensive force of the same magnitude, he averaged 15.3 points in road wins at Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas Tech. And his defense has been a key part of West Virginia’s press.
Coincidentally, WVU was more competitive at Baylor without its senior backcourt than it was in the Morgantown matchup where the Bears raced out to a 26-point bulge and won 87-69.
“We’re not going to be scared,” Huggins said at Monday afternoon’s workout. “That’s not in our DNA. That’s not going to happen.”
Bracket watch: Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology projected West Virginia as a No. 5 seed in the NCAAs and Baylor at a No. 4.
In the event West Virginia makes a three-day run to the Big 12 championship, Huggins offered his own projection: “I still don’t think we can get any higher than a No. 4.”
Acceptance speech: Huggins called his Big 12 coach of the year award a tribute to West Virginia’s players. Then, in typical fashion, he also cracked wise about how he prevailed.
“Most of the time somebody who has a couple bad years and then has a good year ends up being coach of the year, so I’d just as soon not be coach of the year.”