GAMEDAY EDITION
VS nick Jarvis/the daily athenaeum
THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
2 | gameday edition
Tuesday January 13, 2015
doyle maurer/the daily athenaeum
Junior forward Jonathan Holton passes the ball in a game against LSU.
Head coach Bob Huggins in a game earlier this season.
doyle maurer/the daily athenaeum
Senior guard Juwan Staten passing the ball in a game against LSU.
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Freshman guard Jevon Carter on defense in a game against LSU.
doyle maurer/the daily athenaeum
Sophomore forward Devin Williams grabs a loose ball earlier this season.
doyle Maurer/the Daily athenaeum
Senior guard Gary Browne dribbles down the court.
Tuesday January 13, 2015
THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
GAMEDAY EDITION | 3
West Virginia welcomes Oklahoma to Morgantown
file photo
Sophomore forward Devin Williams pulls up for a jumper during the Mountaineers’ home game against Oklahoma last season.
by Nicole curtin
associate sports editor @nickelbobickel
Coming off their loss over the weekend to No. 17 Iowa State, the No. 14 West Virginia Mountaineers are taking on the No. 16 Oklahoma Sooners Tuesday night. Oklahoma had won four straight games before they lost to Kansas State at home on Saturday. The Sooners are 11-4 on the season, 2-1 in the Big 12, while the Mountaineers are 14-2, 2-1 Big 12. When the two teams first played each other during
WVU’s inaugural Big 12 season, Oklahoma won 67-57 in Morgantown and 70-63 in Norman, Okla. Last season West Virginia finally took a win in overtime 91-86 only to lose again at Oklahoma 72-62. The Sooners lost seniors Cameron Clark and Tyler Neal after last season. Clark averaged 16.1 points a game and led the team with 19 points the last time they faced West Virginia. This season junior Buddy Hield is leading Oklahoma, averaging 16.8 points a game, and senior TaShawn Thomas is making an impact with 11.9 a
game. In their first matchup, then-junior Juwan Staten dropped 20 points on OU, and 24 the second time the two teams played. Staten was averaging 18.1 points a game last season, and 16.5 a game so far this season, with junior Jonathan Holton and sophomore Devin Williams both contributing about 10 points a game. Last season Williams played well against the Sooners in both matchups, putting up 28 points in their game at home and 14 in Norman. Before losing to Kansas
State this past weekend, Oklahoma handed a tough loss to No. 10 Texas in Austin, 70-49. The Sooners forced 12 turnovers from the Longhorns, held them to 30 percent from the field and grabbed 42 rebounds. Cousins, Hield, Spangler and Thomas have all combined for 289 defensive rebounds this season for the Sooners while the Mountaineers’ top rebounders have only gotten 191 defensively. In their loss to K-State, Oklahoma had 13 turnovers of their own and shot about 40 percent from the field, but it wasn’t enough in the
end to take the win. The score stayed very close for the last eight minutes of the game. West Virginia was on a seven-game win streak before losing to Iowa State on Saturday night. In their early January game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, the Mountaineers shot 47.6 percent from the field but only managed 32.4 percent against Iowa State. Oklahoma has a strong rebound game, especially defensively, and WVU has struggled in that department in their last two games, grabbing 22 from
Texas Tech and only 19 from Iowa State. Both teams are oneloss teams in the conference and want to keep that streak alive. West Virginia is sitting at third in the Big 12 and Oklahoma at fifth– while they can’t move up in the league unless Kansas or Iowa State lose a game, another conference win would give them the chance to do so. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Coliseum, and the game will be broadcast on ESPNEWS as well. dasports@mail.wvu.edu
THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
4 | MUSINGS
Tuesday January 13, 2015
Game 18
January 13, 2015 7:00PM
VS
24 BUDDY HEILD JUNIOR/GUARD @buddyhield Nickname is Buddy Love or Buddy Buckets...Born in Freeport, Bahamas… Favor- ite food is a Conch Salad...voted the biggest trash talker on the team...Best job is cutting grass… is 38% from 3 this season...favorite TV channel is cartoon net- work...Major is Human Relations...Was quoted saying that Oklahoma will win the big 12 this summer...GF name is Mallory an Alpha Phi at OU...BOO HIM
The WVU Men's basketball team is ready to get back into the win column at home against the Oklahoma Sooners. This past weekend the men lost a tough game at home against a ranked Iowa State team 74-72 and their record now stands at 14-2 (21). The Sooners are coming to Morgantown after a tough overtime loss at home against Kansas State and they have an overall record of 11-4. Let's get our first home Big 12 win against the Sooners!!!
EVERY TIME HE TOUCHES THE BALL!!!!
SO LET’S DO OUR PART TO MAKE THE WVU COLISEUM THE HARDEST PLACE TO PLAY IN THE BIG 12
TRADITION CHEERS
11 ISAIAH COUSINS
Junior Guard @FRAGG_NATiON
was arrested on a complaint of public intoxication and interference last season...voted team’s best dancer...from the same town as WVU All-Time Great Kevin Jones...least favorite food is nuts...major is also Human Relations...
Others:
10 JORDAN W OODARD
35 TASHAW N TAYLOR
3-26 from three this season...biggest fear is spiders...favorite food is “mama’s que- sadillas”...major is administrative leadership...Brother James plays for Tulsa...Leads the team in turnovers..voted best dresser on team.
GF’s name is
Sophomore Guard @jwood_10
Senior Forward @Taethomas35
Surena...Transferred from Houston...Major is Adminstrative leadership...has four younger sisters...favorite NFL team is the Cowboys...Favorite rapper is J.Cole...avg at UH 16 ppg, now 11.9ppg
00 RYAN SPANGLER
Junior Forward @Rspangler15
Biggest fear is snakes...loves hunting and fishing...favorite food is Chinese...Grew up a huge OU football fan...Transferred from Gonzaga…leads the team in fouls...GF’s name is Taylor...Showers in the dark before games...favorite singer is George Strait
#2 Dinjiyl Walker JR. G - Canadian National… #1 Frank Booker SO. G - Voted best singer on the team…and biggest jokester….Would like to play batman in a movie #12 Khadeem Lattin FR. F - Grandfather is David Lattin… National Champion at Texas Western in 1966 #31 DJ Bennett SR. F - Voted biggest eater on the team….Senior but has never started… Favorite TV channel is Food Network Head Coach Lon Kruger- won just one regular season conference championship in 29 seasons…..and only went to the NCAA tourney 15 times….
Visitor Introductions: Read the Newspaper, then rip it up and throw in the air like confetti after the first basket made by WVU Jump! : Jump up and down and get crazy for the opening tip-off and after we make a three point shot or a slam dunk. Chorus of Voices: JUST YELL during Big Defensive series Shot clock: Alternate countdown methods, first when the opponent has the ball and the shot clock reaches thirteen, countdown beginning from 10. For the next countdown begin when the shot clock reaches 7, but countdown beginning from 10. Switching the countdown every time can really screw up timing. ON YOU!: When an opposing player gets a foul called on him chant YOU, YOU, YOU, ………ON YOU! OPPONENT FOULING OUT: As the player steps, Left, Right, Left, Right, until the player sits down then yell SIT DOWN! (Also do this ANYTIME the Bum of the Game goes to the Bench!) COUNTRY ROADS: After a Mountaineer victory remember to stay in the student section and sing Country Roads!
THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
Tuesday January 13, 2015
Let’s Go Mountaineers! • Burritos • Quesadillas • Salads • Sides & Dip • Tacos • Chili • Enchiladas • Draft Beer • Wings and much
Eat at a local WV tradition
Nothing Fancy... Just Good Food!
Eat-in & Carry out
THE
NEW
Eleaf iStick
t 8"554 0' 108&3 */ 5)& 1"-. 0' :063 )"/%
Downtown Morgantown 1125 University Ave 296-4486
)*() 453&&5 .03("/508/ 87 7"1&
Suncrest Morgantown 725 Chestnut Ridge Rd 598-3010
Hours: Mon-Saturday: 10:30am-Midnight / Sundays & Holidays: Noon-Midnight
WEST VIRGINIA
rOSTERS| 5
NO NAME POS HT WT RK 0 Jaysean Paige G 6-2 200 JR 1 Jonathan Holton F 6-7 220 SR 2 Jevon Carter G 6-2 185 FR 3 Juwan Staten G 6-1 190 SR 4 Daxter Miles Jr. G 6-3 185 FR 5 Devin Williams F 6-9 255 SO 10 Chase Connor G 6-1 190 SO 11 Nathan Adrian F 6-9 235 SO 12 Tarik Phillip G 6-3 185 SO
ÂŽ
NO NAME POS HT WT RK 13 James Long G 5-11 190 SO 14 Gary Browne G 6-1 195 SR 20 Brandon Watkins F 6-9 245 SO 21 BillyDee Williams F 6-6 215 JR 23 Tyrone Hughes G 6-0 185 JR 30 Richard Romeo G 6-0 190 JR 34 Kevin Noreen F 6-10 245 SR 45 Elijah Macon F 6-9 240 FR
OKLAHOMA
NO NAME POS HT WT RK 00 Ryan Spangler F 6-8 231 JR 1 Frank Booker G 6-4 211 SO 2 Dinjiyl Walker G 6-1 193 JR 4 Jamuni McNeace C 6-10 196 FR 10 Jordan Woodard G 6-0 182 SO 11 Isaiah Cousins G 6-4 187 JR 13 James Fraschilla G 5-10 153 SR 14 Bola Alade G 6-4 184 FR
NO NAME POS 21 Dante Buford F 22 Daniel Harper G 24 Buddy Hield G 25 C.J. Cole F 31 D.J. Bennett F 35 TaShawn Thomas F 41 Austin Mankin F 45 Trey Slate G
GO MOUNTAINEERS!
HT 6-7 6-1 6-4 6-7 6-8 6-8 6-7 6-1
WT RK 208 FR 184 SO 209 JR 232 SO 207 SR 240 SR 200 SO 195 SO
THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
6 | gameday edition
Tuesday January 13, 2015
Good start, but still a lot of questions to be answered by jacob bojesson editor-in-chief @dailyathenaeum
As usual these days, we had no idea of what to expect from the West Virginia men’s basketball team coming into the season. Juwan Staten emerged as a solid point guard last season, earning him Big 12 honors, but for the second year in a row, Huggins was left with a team that saw starters transfer to other institutions in Terry Henderson and Eron Harris. “One-and-done” didn’t have anything to do with the NBA at WVU, it referred to key players taking their talents elsewhere because something was missing in Morgantown. That trend caused Mountaineer fans to wonder where the program was heading and if Bob Huggins still kept control of his locker room. Even the most optimistic Mountaineer would have dismissed a projection of a 14-2 start. But looking back at the young season, we still have to ask ourselves: How good is this team? Being part of the rankings this far into the season usually
means you can be hopeful of a Final Four appearance later in the spring. But with this team, we just can’t tell yet. The strength of the schedule leading up to tonight’s matchup with Oklahoma has been weak. With the exception of the Puerto Rico Tipoff upset against reigning national champions UConn, the Mountaineers have lost their only game against a ranked opponent (Saturday against Iowa State). And as it turned out, UConn doesn’t even seem to be a factor this year. The road victories that opened Big 12 play were against two of the weaker conference opponents in TCU and Texas Tech. What this team has that previous teams have lacked is the ability to win games they should win. Unnecessary losses to the Davidson’s and Duquesne’s of the world have turned into victories over VMI and George Mason. If the Mountaineers can keep that up, there is no doubt we will see the team in the NCAA tournament for the first time in three years. Getting back to the tournament will be a moral victory, but standing at 14-2, we
have to dream big. The Big 12 is arguably the strongest conference in the country this year and if they can compete there, they can compete anywhere. This week holds games against Oklahoma and Texas, two of the strongest teams in the conference. These two games will give an idea of how strong the team really is when competing against the country’s finest. There is no doubt Bob Huggins has been able to develop a clear idea of how he wants to play, and the players know their roles, strengths and limitations. He’s got his locker room back, but a team will only go as far as the talent it holds and in order to stay optimistic about this basketball season, the team needs to show consistency against powerhouses as well. Nine of the last 15 games are against currently ranked opponents. If the Mountaineers can keep winning games the way they have in the early goings of the season, there is a lot of madness to look forward to come March. But like I said – we just don’t know yet.
carl.bojesson@mail.wvu.edu
Tarik Phillip plays tight defense during a game earlier this season.
kyle monroe/the daily athenaeum
Big 12 Conference making a case for best in college basketball david schlake sports editor @dschlake_wvu
kyle monroe/the daily athenaeum
Fans await tip-off at the 2014 Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament.
After about two months of college basketball, each conference within the Power Five is starting to claim its own identity in the league. Each conference has its commercial powerhouse team, as well as its doormat used by every other team for easy wins. What separates the Big 12 from the other four is its depth. Going into the conference’s headliner matchup on Saturday between No. 17 Iowa State and No. 14 West Virginia, six of the conference’s 10 teams were in the AP Top 25.
Prior to the release of the updated rankings yesterday, Texas was No. 10, Kansas was No. 12, West Virginia was No. 14, Oklahoma was No. 16, Iowa State was No. 17 and Baylor was No. 21. Of the conference’s unranked teams, there has still been a great deal of success. Even though TCU is 0-3 conference play after its loss to then-No. 21 Baylor, the Horned Frogs made an appearance in the Top 25 after a season in which they went 0-18 in the Big 12 last year. Granted they didn’t play anyone that would be making a run for the title at any point in the next 20 years, but wins are wins and a 13-0 start is a good one no matter
who’s sharing the floor. While teams like Texas Tech and Kansas State have struggled at times thus far, they’ve also shown they can compete when they show up ready to play. Regardless of the struggles each squad has endured, the 10-6 Red Raiders and the 9-7 Wildcats look pretty tough for two teams at the bottom of a heavyweight conference. Oklahoma State will likely also find a spot in the Top 25 after its 69-68 victory over then-No. 10 Texas, a game in which the Cowboys let the rest of the conference know they also belong in the mix. Kansas and Iowa State appear to be the front runners right now, as neither squad
has suffered a loss in conference play despite a handful of nail-biters. While both of these teams look like they could take the conference title in Kansas City in March, don’t look past the middle of the conference. While they haven’t been touched in the conference at this point, it has been clear that other teams are going to give them a fight, such as when Baylor took the Jayhawks all the way down the wire last week. But, that’s where the Big 12 differs from everyone else. There is no untouchable team, and there are no easy wins. Every team is a contender. dasports@mail.wvu.edu
Tuesday January 13, 2015
THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
gameday edition | 7
West Virginia defensive pressure earning respect ryan petrovich sports writer @dailyathenaeum
West Virginia struggled to make shots in its last outing against Iowa State. The poor shooting led to a loss as the Mountaineers fell to the Cyclones 74-72. Despite the loss, West Virginia’s defensive play gave Iowa State problems. All season long, head coach Bob Huggins has had his team pressuring opponents in a full-court press. On the season, West Virginia is forcing its opponents to turn the ball over, on average, 22.3 times a game. Iowa State only turned the ball over 18 times against West Virginia. That’s a substantially low number – something uncommon when playing against the Mountaineers. “I think we’re only the fourth team to have under 20 against this team (WVU),” said Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg. “That pressure is something that you can’t simulate. We had six or seven
guys practicing against it at one time and it still wasn’t even near what they do out there.” While it was a low amount of turnovers, the pressure West Virginia caused allowed the Mountaineers to stay in the game until the very end. If not for superb play from Abdel Nadar down the stretch, the Cyclones might not have left Morgantown with a win. West Virginia only shot 22-68 (32.4 percent) from the field and shot 29 total three-pointers, connecting on only seven. “We didn’t pass the ball,” said Huggins following the game. “We had guys open and we didn’t pass the ball. We struggled to make shots at times.” Staten led the Mountaineers in scoring with 23 points, while Devin Williams chipped in with 14 points. The shooting woes were evident, but only losing to one of the top teams in the Big 12 by two points was in large part to the Mountaineers’ defense.
West Virginia will face Oklahoma in its next game. The Sooners are shooting 44 percent from the field, and shot 40 percent in their loss to Kansas State last game. No doubt, if West Virginia is able to shoot well and play its normal style of defense, they can compete and most likely beat just about any team in the conference. But, like we saw against the Cyclones, the Mountaineers can struggle with shooting. There’s no reason to panic. The Big 12 Conference is filled with excellent teams and West Virginia is going to lose more than one conference game before it’s all said and done. The Mountaineer defense is stout and it can keep them in every contest even if they can’t hit the backside of a barn. Even though West Virginia fell short against Iowa State, the game could’ve been a lot worse, but during the final seconds, the defensive effort forced a turnover and almost allowed the Mountaineers to
kyle monroe/the daily athenaeum
Elijah Macon and Nathan Adrian double-team gaurding a player from Montmouth earlier this season. earn a win. there’s no reason to worry in the team’s success. The team will need to get Poor shooting hurts, but if West Virginia is having that goes for any team. If a an off night in terms of back on track against the team, however, can shoot shooting. Sooners and look for the poorly and still compete West Virginia will con- defense to play a big role. with top-level opponents tinue to press and it will dasports@mail.wvu.edu because of its defense, continue to play a big part
Mountaineers suffer first Big 12 loss to Cyclones CONNOR MURRAY SPORTS WRITER @DAILYATHENAEUM
Spurred on by hot shooting and a hefty contribution from an unlikely source, No. 17 Iowa State handed No. 14 West Virginia its first conference loss of the season, topping the Mountaineers 74-72 at the WVU Coliseum Saturday. The Mountaineers had their typical raucous defensive effort, forcing 18 Iowa State turnovers. Despite bending under the pressure, which Cyclone coach Fred Hoiberg said his
team spent plenty of time preparing for, Iowa State’s dead-eye shooting kept it from breaking. The Cyclones shot 50-percent from the field for the game, and came away victorious despite three of their top scoring options being in foul trouble for the majority of the second half. “I couldn’t be more proud fought through adversity out there and competed. Georges (Niang) picks up his fourth (foul) with a little over ten minutes to go and Monte (Morris) does the same. Those are the two guys, really,
that we rely on to beat that press,” Hoiberg said. With Niang, Morris and Dustin Hogue all sitting on four fouls, Iowa State needed someone to pick up the slack. Enter junior forward Abdel Nader. Leading up to Saturday, he had averaged just five points per game, but when his team was in need of a boost, Nader lit up West Virginia for 19 points and seven rebounds. “Abdel, obviously, was unbelievable out there tonight. Not only hitting shots and getting to the free throw line and getting to the basket, I thought
his poise against the press kind of as a third guy out there besides Georges and Monte was very good,” Hoiberg said. “We needed every one of those points. He hit some big free throws down the stretch.” While Iowa State was able to do enough to be successful against the press, Hoiberg said it was like nothing his team has seen this year. “I think we’re only the fourth team to have under 20 (turnovers) against this team. That pressure is something that you just… you can’t simulate it,” he
said. “We had six guys out there in practice, seven guys at one time, and it still wasn’t even near what they do out there.” For West Virginia, the focus now turns to not letting this one loss turn into two against Oklahoma tonight, which can be a killer during the grind of conference play. The Mountaineers learned that early on in the Big 12 schedule last season. “We lost a hard game to Oklahoma State here last year. We need to win Tuesday. Last year we lost to Texas after that. We just
can’t squander opportunities,” said coach Bob Huggins. The Mountaineers overall record dropped to 14-2 with the loss, and their conference mark stands at 2-1. “Where do we go from here? We have another big game Tuesday. We want to come out and impose our will on Oklahoma,” said guard Juwan Staten. “We don’t want to let this game have a carry-over effect. It happened to us last year, so we really want to fight against that and come out ready to play Tuesday.”
dasports@mail.wvu.edu
8 | AD
THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
Tuesday January 13, 2015