MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A half-hour before Monday’s practice, Tarik Phillip was working up a pre-practice sweat, hoisting jumper after jumper as a team manager fed him passes.
Then came time for the contact portion, the manager whacking Phillip with pads as the guard attacked the rim.
Both drills are typical of the early-arriving Phillip, whose extra work paid off during his game-winning flurry Saturday at Texas Tech. He buried a step-in 3-pointer from the left wing and finished a layup while being fouled for a three-point play.
Those 20 points were a career-high and rallied WVU to an 80-76 win, but even such a clutch performance might have paled to the game Phillip played in a double-overtime victory at Kansas State on Jan. 2. He finished with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, five assists (a personal-best in Big 12 action), four rebounds and played a career-best 30 minutes.
When K-State (12-7, 2-5) visits the WVU Coliseum for the rematch on Tuesday night, conventional wisdom says the No. 9 Mountaineers should sweep. But Philip has learned to be cautious.
“The Big 12 is tough, period,” he said. “Every night you’ve got to come out to play.”
Though the Wildcats are 0-3 in Big 12 road games, they lost 60-57 at Texas and twice missed the potential tying 3-pointer. Then they suffered another double-OT heartbreaker at Baylor, 79-72.
“We were crushed (after the Baylor loss), but our kids responded and bounced back” Saturday by beating Oklahoma State 89-73, said K-State coach Bruce Weber. “Now we go to play at West Virginia and we’ve got to decide if we’re going to take a step backwards again?”
Tipoff: 7 p.m. in Morgantown (ESPNews)
RPIs: West Virginia 17, Kansas State 51
Scouting K-State: Point guard Kamau Stokes (10.1 points., 2.8 assists) has averaged 15 points over his past four games—the same total he scored against WVU the first time. More impressively, the freshman delivered 42 turnover-free minutes as part of K-State’s poised press-breaking attack that ultimately led WVU to spend the two OT periods in a 1-3-1 zone. “Last year our kids didn’t understand how hard (West Virginia) played and how they just keep coming at you,” Weber said. “But the second time we were better and now the third time our kids had a better understanding, and out coaches too.” … Guards Justin Edwards (12.1 points., 5.6 rebounds) and the 6-foot-7 Wesley Iwundu (12.6 points, 4.9 rebounds) are difference-makers. Edwards is tied with Phillip for fourth in league steals, while Iwundu is No. 3 with 97 free-throw attempts. … Freshman 6-8 forward Dean Wade (10.4 points, 5.9 rebounds) and foul-prone Stephen Hurt (6.5 points, 4.6 rebounds) are the forwards.
WVU trends: After Kansas lost Monday night at Iowa State, the Mountaineers are in a three-way tie with No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 17 Baylor for the Big 12 lead. … Coach Bob Huggins wasn’t happy with his press against K-State earlier this month: “We didn’t close any traps. When you have two guys on one and they don’t stay between that guy and the basket—they just kind of opened up like the Red Sea parting? We were fundamentally very poor.” … Starting point guard Jevon Carter (11.3 points, 3.1 rpg.) is in a 4-for-22 shooting slump the past three games, while Daxter Miles, Jr. (10.9 points., 2.2 rebounds) is 8 of his last 27. … Those cold spells have been mitigated by the bench play of Jaysean Paige (13.6 points, 3.6 rebounds) and Phillip (8.0 points, 2.8 assists). … Devin Williams (13.5 points, 8.5 rebounds) is No. 2 in the Big 12 in total rebounding percentage, while Jonathan Holton (9.4 points, 7.3 rebounds) is No. 3.
Line: West Virginia -10.5
Prediction: West Virginia 74-66