The Diehard Breakdown: WV 70 Boston College 66

[WvuDieHard]

Great win for this young Mountaineer Basketball program last night. If you missed the game, you missed a good one. WV started very sluggish as the press never rattled BC in the 1st half. Their star guard Olivier Hanlan was as smooth as a cucumber knocking down shots (10-15/23 points) and directing the Eagles to a 32-21 halftime lead. The WV half court set was atrocious at best as it looked like BC would walk away with an easy victory. At halftime WV made some changes by turning up the defensive pressure and knocking down some shots (18-33 in the 2nd half). The game changed for WV when Statan got into foul trouble. Enter Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles, Jr. who both propelled the Mountaineers to this victory. These 2 guys played like seasoned veterans and showed no signs of being a freshman with limited experience. Carter and Miles will be the face of Mountaineers over the next 4 years that you can bank on. Carter will be a big time player because he is patient and he doesn't force shots. Last night he took what the game gave him and calmly hit 4-5 shots and 2 three pointers. Miles hit 4-7 shots and 2 three pointers as well. These super freshman finish with 15 and 10 points respectively. Statan and Williams also have 15 points for the Mounties as they place 4 in double figures for the game.

BC was big on the glass but WV handled its own winning the rebounding battle 34-30 with Holton and Miles getting 6 and 5 rebounds. WV had 10 steals on the evening and BC commits 21 turnovers for the game. That makes 44 turnovers that teams have committed in the last 2 games against the WV pressure. In this game, that gave WV 13 more FG opportunities and I believe that was a difference maker in such a tight game. WV also had 22 bench points to BC's 11 which again shows the depth this WV club has.

Overall, this was a game that will breed confidence as BC is a good team and they will make some noise in the ACC and knock some people off. Carter is a much better shooter than I realized as he can make the 3 and he will not force shots. He is really impressive and I am sure he will see more floor time now. So at 4-0 on the season, WV will roll into the Championship game Sunday night against the defending national champion UCONN Huskies. UCONN has one of the best big men in the country and he will swat everything in the middle away. WV will have to knock down outside shots to win this game. I don't think the WV pressure will have to much of an effect on UCONN as Boatwright will handle that easily. WV will simply have to play smart and hit shots to win. Have a great weekend Mountaineer fans and stay warm wherever you are!

 

[Mac_Bridger]

It's on the DVR. Hopefully I'll get a chance to watch it later today.

 

[bbwvfan]

It was funny, I never worried about WVU losing the game last night. This team has a feel to it… similar to the Final 4 team in many ways. Although BC played a great first half… handling the full court pressure well… scoring from both the outside and inside via backdoor cuts and pass outs to the open man behind the arc… they were using a lot of energy in doing so. Couple that with the way they were playing defense, and I thought WVU would simply wear them down in the 2nd half.

Back in 2010, it was the same thing. WVU's pressure defense and motion offense caused their opponents to spend a lot of energy. I became comfortable with that team losing until near the end of the game because I knew they had more gas at the end than their opponent.

BC had 7 seniors on their team, they were long and they were able to pack the lane in the first half because WVU shot poorly from the outside. Carter made some three's in the 2nd, Adrian made a three… and all of a sudden… driving lanes opened for Staten… and our bigs had a little more room in the paint.

Great team win…

 

[GoldRusher]

So far, my feel for this team is: solid team but could be a tremendous team if it learns to score consistently. Really like what the team looks like "on the hoof" walking out to the court and I am excited to see how well they develop as the year progresses. So far so good.