NCAA Tournament: West Virginia Could Bring Huggins a Championship

The West Virginia Mountaineers could bring coach Bob Huggins his first NCAA Championship.  The Mountaineers won the Big East Tournament by beating some exceptionally good teams.

They haven’t lost since February 22nd and are battle tested because of their regular season Big East schedule.  Coach Huggins, who came oh so close to the title as the head man at Cincinnati in the early 1990’s, has put together a solid team that probably should have garnered the #1 seed in the South bracket instead of Duke.

East:  #2 West Virginia Mountaineers

The Mountaineers lost 6 games during the regular season.  Does it seem like a lot?  From some it might, but the truth is that West Virginia has been as solid as any team in the Big East Conference.  The Mountaineers dropped a game to Purdue, when Robbie Hummel was still playing for the Boilermakers, 77 to 62. 

They lost to Luke Harangody and Notre Dame 70 to 68.  They lost to Syracuse 71 to 70.  They lost to Villanova 82 to 75 and then to Pittsburgh 98 to 95 in overtime.  Finally, they were beat by Connecticut 73 to 62.  Save for the losses to Connecticut and Purdue, West Virginia was in every single game in which they played during the regular season. 

They also beat Ohio State in non-conference play and they took down Georgetown twice.

Offense:  West Virginia’s offense is led by forward Da’Sean Butler who averages 17.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.  Butler also leads the team in assists with 3.3 per game.  West Virginia averages 73 points per game.  Their shooting percentage is on the low side at 43% but Coach Huggins believes and preaches to his team to take the open shot. 

Wellington Smith and Kevin Jones add to the point total on most nights.

Defense:  The Mountaineers’ D allows only 63.8 points against them on average.  They hold teams to 42% from the field and out rebound teams by an average of 6 boards per game.

Prediction:  This team is not only very good but ultra-tenacious.  They make up their less than stellar shooting percentage by crashing the boards and playing with a type of toughness that isn’t often seen in teams outside of the Big East. 

They’re my pick to go to the Final Four out of the East Bracket, I’ve got them upsetting Kentucky in the Great Eight, so taking the +1000 on them to win the championship is a good bet in my opinion. 

Huggins has this team believing in themselves and those close calls, the losses and victories, during the regular season and in the Big East Tournament will only help them in the end.

They’re a solid, solid team to make Final Four and have an outside shot of winning the title.

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