MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — When Bob Huggins broke into coaching in 1980, Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp stood atop the mountain for all-time wins in college basketball history — 876.
Rupp stood alone for a long time, with North Carolina’s Dean Smith needing another 17 years to surpass him.
Rupp is now seventh on the all-time list, and Huggins is poised to join him when West Virginia hosts Missouri at noon Saturday.
The game is part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge, which Huggins views as a necessity now that peer leagues like the ACC and Big Ten have moved to 20-game conference schedules.
“It’s pretty much a must for our league,” Huggins said. “We’re playing two fewer games, so it’s a way to get close to as many Power 5 games as the rest of the leagues do.”
Mizzou (9-9) is in its third season under former Purdue star Cuonzo Martin, who has also coached in three-year stints at Tennessee and Cal. For the second time in three years, Martin is without his best player for a large chunk of the season.
Two years ago it was Michael Porter Jr., the most heralded recruit in program history who is currently with the Denver Nuggets. This season the Tigers have had to play their past six games without forward Jeremiah Tilmon, who was one of the players that stepped up and helped Mizzou reach the NCAA tournament despite Porter’s absence.
The absence of the 6-foot-10 Tilmon has made the Tigers a very perimeter-oriented team. In a 66-64 loss to Texas A&M this week, Missouri attempted 35 three-pointers — but lost because it only made nine of those heaves.
The free-throw line is where the Tigers feast.
Mizzou made 54 consecutive free throws in back-to-back games against Alabama and Texas A&M, finally missing their last free throw against the Aggies to snap the NCAA-record streak, which had previously been 51.
Missouri is 77.4 percent from the line this season, which is good for 16th in the nation. West Virginia is shooting 64 percent from the line, which is 325th nationally.