West Virginia returns to one of its most frequent road haunts with a trip to Madison Square Garden, where the Mountaineers face host St. John’s at noon Saturday in the Big East-Big 12 Challenge.
“I think they’re excited about it,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “I don’t know if it’s what it once was, but still, it’s the place. Like the old song, if you make it there, you can make it anywhere.”
West Virginia’s history at MSG predates the current version of the venue, which was built in 1968. WVU has played 88 games at Madison Square Garden and its predecessor since its first trip in 1942, when it won the NIT.
The Mountaineers have 36 wins at MSG. The only place they have won more games outside of West Virginia is the old Richmond Arena, where they went 37-5 in dominating the Southern Conference from 1955-69.
All that history is of little import to this year’s Mountaineers, who are seeking the program’s first 8-0 start since 2009-10.
The Red Storm (7-2) are in their first year under former Arkansas and Missouri coach Mike Anderson. A disciple of former Razorbacks head coach Nolan Richardson, Anderson’s teams take Huggins’ old “Press Virginia” concept up several notches.
“They play the way Mike’s always played,” Huggins said. “They’re going to press multiple ways. Diamond. Box-press. Man-to-man. They’ll run and jump us. Things Mike has done for a long time.”
St. John’s does not dally with the basketball. With an average possession length of 14.2 seconds, the Red Storm play at the sixth-quickest pace in the country.
“They want to lead the country in possessions,” Huggins said. “Their thinking is they can outscore people with more possessions.”
Fortunately for West Virginia, Huggins has not been shy about getting his whole bench involved this season. In theory, the Mountaineers should have the legs to keep pace.
Memorable Mountaineer moments at MSG
West Virginia 47, Western Kentucky 45 — March 25, 1942
West Virginia was the last team in the eight-team NIT field, but made the most of it.
After upsetting Long Island and Toledo in the first two games, the Mountaineers downed the Hilltoppers for their first tournament title.
In front of a sellout crowd of 18,251, Roger Hicks sank two free throws with 20 seconds left to put West Virginia in front. Tournament MVP Rudy Baric led the Mountaineers with 17 points, and Dick Kesling added 14. West Virginia rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit, which was no small feat in the era predating the shot clock.
NYU 72, West Virginia 70 (OT) — Feb. 12, 1959
It was a previous incarnation of the Garden, but this was still a pretty big game. The Violets snapped the No. 9 Mountaineers 11-game winning streak in overtime after neither team could score in the final 3:30 of regulation.
Cal Ramsey had 30 points and 15 rebounds for NYU, including the last bucket of regulation. Bob Smith scored 29 for WVU, and the New York Times correctly observed that Jerry West was “limited” to 20 points.
The Mountaineers bounced back just fine, eventually reaching the national championship game.
Tulsa 89, West Virginia 87 — March 23, 1981
West Virginia’s deepest postseason run since the 1959 Final Four came to an end in the NIT semifinals.
Tulsa’s Paul Pressey had 20 points, nine assists and an NIT-record seven steals to help erase a seven-point WVU lead in the second half.
Guard Diego McCoy led the Mountaineers with 30 points on 12 of 15 shooting, but West Virginia could not overcome 29 turnovers against the pressing defense of then-unknown first-year Tulsa coach Nolan Richardson.
A key contributor to the win for the Golden Hurricane? Mike Anderson, who had 17 points and seven assists. Anderson is now coaching St. John’s with Pressey as his top assistant.
Tulsa went on to beat Syracuse in the NIT title game, while WVU lost to Purdue in the third-place game.
Louisville 82, West Virginia 71 (2 OT) — March 8, 2007
Why the long gap? From 1962-2004, West Virginia went a ghastly 1-20 at Madison Square Garden. That fortune began to change in the latter half of the 2000s.
With a win over the 12th-ranked Cardinals in the Big East tournament quarterfinals, the Mountaineers likely would have punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament.
West Virginia charged all the way back from a 17-point second half deficit with an 18-0 run and stood on the verge of the upset before Edgar Sosa drove coast-to-coast for a buzzer-beating layup to send the game to overtime.
Louisville put the game away at the free-throw line in the second overtime, and WVU was left on the wrong side of the bubble.
West Virginia 63, Mississippi State 62 — March 27, 2007
It didn’t take long for the Mountaineers to earn their redemption at MSG.
West Virginia erased a 14-point deficit, and Darris Nichols drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the Mountaineers to the NIT championship game. Nichols scored 17 points to lead WVU past the Bulldogs.
West Virginia 78, Clemson 73 — March 29, 2007
Frank Young scored 24 points to lead West Virginia to its first NIT title since 1942, earning tournament Most Outstanding Player recognition in the process.
Da’Sean Butler added 20 points off the bench. West Virginia sizzled from three-point range, hitting 12 of 20 three-pointers in John Beilein’s final game as the Mountaineers’ coach.
The postgame celebration was notable for another reason — the word “Virginia” was misspelled on West Virginia’s championship t-shirts.
West Virginia 74, Pitt 60 — March 12, 2009
The Panthers were ranked second in the country when the Mountaineers made them eat it on the big stage in the Big East quarterfinals.
Devin Ebanks scored a career-high 20 points and Alex Ruoff chipped in 18 to set the pace. Bob Huggins’ fingerprints were all over the dominant defensive showing. WVU was the first team all season to hold Pitt without a three-pointer.
WVU’s Big East run ended the next night when Syracuse — fresh off of its epic six-overtime win over UConn — defeated the Mountaineers 74-69 in a mere one overtime. A 50-foot Eric Devendorf shot before the halftime buzzer ended up being significant for the Orange in that win.
West Virginia 54, Cincinnati 51 — March 11, 2010
Da’Sean Butler banked in a three at the buzzer to lift WVU over Huggins’ old team in the Big East quarterfinals.
Future NBA irritant Lance Stephenson tied the game on a three of his own with 42 seconds left. WVU committed a shot-clock violation on the following possession, but Butler hounded Cincy’s Dion Dixon into dribbling out of bounds with 3.2 seconds left to set up his own heroics on a Devin Ebanks inbounds pass.
West Virginia 53, Notre Dame 51 — March 12, 2010
Tory Jackson’s last-second three was off the mark, enabling West Virginia to advance its second-ever Big East championship game.
Butler was once again at the top of his game, scoring a game-high 24 points.
Ironically, it was the second time Ben Hansborough suffered an agonizing loss at the hands of West Virginia at the Garden. Hansborough was a freshman on the Mississippi State team that lost to WVU in the NIT before he transferred to Notre Dame.
West Virginia 60, Georgetown 58 — March 13, 2010
West Virginia won its first and only Big East tournament title over the Hoyas.
Once again Butler was the hero, scoring the game-winning shot with 4.2 seconds left to provide the final margin. He was tournament MVP with another 20-point performance.
The Mountaineers made the most of the momentum created from this MSG run, winning four more games in the NCAA tournament to reach the Final Four for the first time since 1959.