Coming off a very much needed win against DePaul on senior night in Morgantown, the Mountaineers head to Florida to take on the University of South Florida. This will be West Virginia’s last Big East regular season game ever since next year they will be headed to the Big 12. The Mountaineers will look to end their run in the Big East on a high note.
Both Kevin Jones and Truck Bryant had huge games against DePaul. Jones recorded another double-double with 22 points and 16 rebounds. This makes Jones the first player since Jerry West to
graduate with more than 1,700 points and 1,000 rebounds. Jones has 1,766 points and 1,007 rebounds. KJ finally got some help from Bryant who dropped 28 points. The two seniors combined for 50 points and if their mojo can work like this again on Saturday then the Mountaineers should be able to put away from the Bulls easily.
The other big contributor on offense was freshman guard Jabarie Hinds who had 14 points. Hinds has been playing well recently and has been putting up decent numbers, since teams are more focused on stopping Jones which allows him to hit shot after shot. Other than Hinds, Jones and Bryant no other player seemed to have a spectacular game. Freshman forward Keaton Miles did alright boxing out and grabbing 7 rebounds, but other than that his other stats were disappointing. Other players will have to step up and start contributing since three players cannot win a game on their own.
That being said, the bench played a little better with three players scoring a combined 17 points. While Head Coach Bob Huggins would like to see more out of them, but he might want to start lowering his standards since the bench has been terrible all season. The only somewhat consistent player is freshman forward Gary Browne who had six points and three assists. Junior forward Dominique Rutledge and another freshman guard Aaron Brown can both be effective, but have yet to prove to Huggins that they can be consistent and step up when needed.
The defense played an excellent game against DePaul coming away with 9 steals and 7 blocks. The Mountaineers also caused the Blue Demons to turn the ball over 13 times. West Virginia will have to mimic this performance if they want to keep USF on their toes. Miles and Hinds both had four steals apiece, while Jones, Miles and Deniz Kilicli each had two blocks.
Players the Mountaineers will have to keep an eye on are senior forward Augustus Gilchrist who is averaging 9.9 points per game and junior forward Jawanza Poland who is averaging 9.1 ppg. While these stats may not seem impressive it doesn’t mean West Virginia shouldn’t underestimate them. Poland had 16 points in the Bulls' last game which was a win against 18th ranked Louisville. Gilchrist only had 8 points against the Cardinals, but he should be guarded just like anyone else.
Much like WVU's football team ended the season with a win against USF, the basketball will look to do the same. This will be a hard fought game by both sides, but much more for the Mountaineers since this will be the final regular season game they play in the Big East.
Prediction: WVU-75 USF-54
Player of the Game: Kevin Jones 25 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists
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