MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Showing big-shot poise and no-retreat toughness, No. 15 West Virginia made a gritty statement by snapping Virginia’s 24-game home win streak.
Now the Mountaineers (6-1) hope to maintain that edge against Western Carolina (3-5) during Wednesday night’s follow-up game being staged at the Charleston Civic Center.
Fans’ expectations have been energized by the 66-57 upset at Virginia, in which Bob Huggins’ team prevailed with an 11-2 closing run.
“It got to be a playground-type of game,” Huggins said. “It was kind of two teams from different neighborhoods. Got a little chippy, got a little physical, got a little talking going on. I think our guys respond to that.”
Leading the nation in average margin of victory (30.3 points), forced turnovers (25.4) and steals (13.1), West Virginia could pad those stats as it begins a five-game stretch against mid-majors with a combined record of 18-25.
Huggins wants his team to use the next three weeks of nonconference play to improve execution in the halfcourt offense. He even altered shooting drills to force players into more passing repetitions.
“We have the greatest managers in the world and they’re better passers than our guys,” Huggins said. “So I told (assistant coach) Erik Martin ‘Here’s an idea: Why don’t you let our guys pass to our guys instead of the managers passing to our guys.’ ”
One player already adept at passing, 6-9 senior Nathan Adrian stands among the national leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio and paces the Mountaineers at 13 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. After missing all four 3-point tries at Virginia, the forward’s long-distant shooting dipped to 26 percent, though he contributed in other facets.
“Nate shot the ball poorly but he still made plays,” Huggins said. “We ran offense through him, he did a great job defensively, he kept balls alive, rebounded the ball. He still did things to win the game.”
Forward Esa Ahmad (12.6 points, 49 rebounds) and point guard Jevon Carter (9.2 points, 3.0 steals) are important cogs in a deep rotation where 12 players average four points or more.
Whereas the Mountaineers score more than 90 points per game, Western Carolina averages just 56.2 as it nears the finish of a seven-game road swing. The Catamounts have already lost at Miami, Marquette and Ohio State by an average of 41 points.
Might seem like a punishing price for these payout games, but Catamounts coach Larry Hunter views them as teaching tools before Southern Conference action.
“When you play teams like Ohio State and Marquette, your weaknesses are identified much more readily,” he said.
Junior guard Haboubacar Mutombo (12 points, 7.1 rebounds) paces Western Carolina. After scoring a career-high 17 in a 90-44 loss at Marquette, he finished with 13 points — albeit on 5-of-19 shooting — in Saturday’s 58-53 win at Appalachian State.
Guard Devin Peterson (8.8 points, 2.5 assists) and 6-foot-7 forward Marc Gosselin (8.1 points, 6.1 rebounds) are also factors for the Catamounts, who make their second visit to the state this season. They lost at Marshall 98-63 on Nov. 19.
West Virginia (6-1) vs. Western Carolina (3-5)
Tipoff: 7 p.m. at Charleston Civic Center, Root TV
Quoting the Mountaineers: “We’ve got six freshmen or redshirt freshmen and Virginia was a tough environment to throw them into. I think we need to play another one or two, but they need to earn that playing time in practice. I’m big on can I trust you to do the right thing when it gets really hard.” — Huggins after Sagaba Konate saw only one minute and Beetle Bolden and Maciej Bender didn’t play Saturday.
Prediction: West Virginia 99-56