BROOKLYN, N.Y. — During the 30 years since Bob Huggins coached his first NCAA tournament game, he contends not much is different, except “more commercials, maybe.”
In 1986, Huggins took 15th-seeded Akron into the Dance and gave No. 2 seed Michigan a first-round scare, 70-64. On Thursday he recalled the Zips maxing out their abilities only to be sent home.
“We played really well, and I’m thinking, ‘How do you ever win six games in this deal?’ Haven’t figured that out yet. But we’ve won four a few times.”
West Virginia (26-8) vs. Stephen F. Austin (27-5)
• NCAA tournament first round
• Friday, 7 p.m., CBS
• Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.
On Friday night, West Virginia hopes to launch another deep tournament run, focused not so much on nuanced scheme but on a simpler, grittier conviction.
“We’re going to try to outwork everybody,” said leading scorer Jaysean Paige.
After coaching 50 NCAA tournament games, the 62-year-old Huggins insists he’s “not as uptight” as that day Akron faced the Wolverines, His players, though, don’t possess the same reservoir of experience, making each team susceptible to the tightness that saps fluidity from jumpers and and turns decisions timid.
So West Virginia, despite a stark advantage in size and athleticism over Stephen F. Austin, won’t be immune to the potential squeeze of big-game drama.
“Yeah, I think there’s pressure,” Huggins said. “You’d have to live under a rock your whole life not to know that when you lose you’re done. There’s pressure and you have to handle that the right way and respond to it.”
On the opposite bench, Brad Underwood’s teams have been overcoming one-and-done nerves for three straight years simply to reach the NCAAs.
“Pressure is going into your conference tournament at 18-0 and knowing that if you lose, you don’t get in,” he said. “I’m extremely happy for the five seniors and how they were able to gut it up for two games” in the Southland Conference tournament.
RPIs: West Virginia 12, Stephen F. Austin 69
Scouting SFA: 6-foot-4 forward Thomas Walkup (17.5 points, 6.8 rebounds) has his hands in everything the Jacks do. He shoots 59 percent and leads the team with 4.5 assists and 2.1 steals. He’s muscular enough to guard much taller players in the post and skilled enough offensively to create shots for himself and teammates. … Other seniors are Demetrious Floyd (13.8 points, 42 percent from 3), Cliff Geffrard (13.4 points, 5.9 rebounds) and tiny point guard Trey Pinkney (2.7 points, 3.6 assists). … The supporting crew includes Ty Charles (9.7 points, 5.0 rebounds) and 6-7 freshman T.J. Holyfield (7.4 points, 4.3 rebounds), the tallest member of SFA’s eight-man rotation. The size disparity “is something we talked about a lot, but our physicality will have to negate some of that,” Walkup said. “Really it’s attention to detail. No possessions where you miss a block out. Everything has to be right down to detail so that we finish out possessions strong.”
WVU trends: Coming off a career-best 31 points in the Big 12 championship game, Devin Williams (13.3 points, 9.3 rebounds) could do damage against SFA’s undersized lineup. Likewise, an active Jonathan Holton (8.9 points, 7.7 rebounds) could be hard to handle on the glass. The Mountaineers are 10th nationally in rebounding margin at plus-8.4. … Jaysean Paige (13.9 points, 3.5 rebounds) and Tarik Phillip (9.4 points, 2.8 assists) spearhead one of the nation’s most productive benches, though they combined to shoot 9-of-31 in the last two Big 12 tournament games. … West Virginia ranks 259th in 3-point shooting (32.9 percent), and in eight losses that rate has dipped to 24 percent. … According to KenPom, the Mountaineers are the country’s No. 6 defense and No. 23 offense. SFA ranks 28th defensively and 65th on offense.
Line: West Virginia -8
Prediction: West Virginia 79-69