MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Because of the earlier timing of the Myrtle Beach Invitational, the West Virginia basketball team is enjoying a rare holiday on campus.
“We’ve had Thanksgiving all over the place,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said during a media call Wednesday. “We’ve had Thanksgiving in Cancun. We’ve had Thanksgiving in Las Vegas. We’ve had Thanksgiving in Orlando.”
The Mountaineers went 2-1 in Myrtle Beach last week, taking third place.
Most holiday tournaments are scheduled for the week of Thanksgiving. The Mountaineers are in the Cancun Challenge next season (Nov. 26-27), which concludes the day before Thanksgiving.
The Mountaineers (2-2), who will host Valparaiso, at 2 p.m. Saturday, have been home since Sunday night, giving coaches and players time to practice and rest — instead of traveling — before the holiday feast.
“This is kind of rare for us to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving at home,” Huggins said. “We’re going to have a big team dinner. Everybody will be together — the coaches, staff, managers; everybody. We’ll get a chance to enjoy it a little bit.”
Derek Culver’s status
Huggins was asked about freshman forward Derek Culver, who was indefinitely suspended for a violation of program rules before the team left for Myrtle Beach.
Huggins confirmed Culver was still suspended and likely won’t see action against Valparaiso on Saturday.
Handling a big win
The West Virginia football team will play for a spot in the Big 12 championship game Friday, against Oklahoma.
Since joining the league in 2012, WVU is winless against the Sooners.
In hoops, the Mountaineers went 0-3 against Kansas before pulling off a win against the conference’s top team.
West Virginia is 4-10 against the Jayhawks and are on a four-game losing streak that includes a matchup in last season’s Big 12 tournament championship game.
“When I went to Cincinnati, Louisville was the kingpin and everybody went crazy when we beat Louisville,” Huggins said. “I get into the locker room and I told our guys, ‘We’re supposed to do this.’ I think our guys — in the times that we’ve beaten Kansas — felt like they were supposed to win. You’re happy after you win, obviously, but it’s not like you just won the national championship.
“Knowing Dana [Holgorsen] the way I know Dana, I think that’s his approach. Is it a big game? Absolutely. Are you going to act like you just won the Super Bowl? No.”
Individual looks
The Mountaineers took Monday off and Huggins said Tuesday’s practice was more about individual fundamentals.
“I felt we had a real good practice [Tuesday],” Huggins said. “It was more of an individual practice, where we worked on some of the things we needed to get better at individually. We did more team stuff [Wednesday]. I think the primary thing is we have to get well. We’re banged up.”