KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Good day from the Sprint Center, where West Virginia will take part in its seventh Big 12 tournament, but for the first time as the No. 10 seed.
The Mountaineers’ history in this tournament has been on both sides of the spectrum. WVU finished 0-1 during its first three years, then advanced to the conference championship in each of its next three. The Mountaineers (12-19, 4-14 Big 12) will enter today’s first-round game against Oklahoma (19-12, 7-11) with a record of 6-6 in the Big 12 tournament.
None of that will be on the minds of WVU players taking the floor tonight. To them, it is a new season and not just because they’ve finally reached the postseason. It’s new, because for the maybe the first time this season, WVU players and coaches actually know who and what they’re dealing with. There’s no more wondering about the starting lineup and there are no more questions on who will be available to play. That hasn’t always been the case, as West Virginia spent a regular season in which it lost four starters to either injury or dismissals, as well as gained a freshman star in Derek Culver after he was suspended for the first semester and missed the first 10 games of the season.
“We’re excited to be on this stage and show how far we’ve come,” WVU point guard Jordan McCabe said. “I think for the first time this year, we have the opportunity for the storyline and the focus to be on our team on the floor. There’s no more guessing. We know what we have to work with. It makes things go a little more smoothly and we just kind of go from there.”
The Mountaineers are young and inexperienced and they know that, but this group has the chance to write their own chapter in the Big 12 tournament against a team they split with during the regular season, which we will get into in just a second.
For now, here’s what you need to know:
TV: ESPNU for the 9:30 p.m. tip-off. BETTING LINE: Oklahoma is favored by 6.5 points.
THREE GOOD QUESTIONS
What’s the atmosphere like at the Big 12 tournament? Give the Big 12 and the city of Kansas City some credit, because they really go out of their way to give fans a good experience. The Sprint Center is located in the heart of the city’s Power & Light District, which features a number of bars and restaurants with all of them advertising for the tournament. The area’s main attraction is its KC Live! plaza, which is an entire block that is connected to several pubs and eateries that also offers live entertainment and serves as a great place for watch parties for the tournament games. The street in front of the Sprint Center is blocked off and used for games and contests and giveaways. It is an area that is popular with kids on their way to a game. It is a different world than the old Big East tournament that West Virginia played in prior to moving to the Big 12. The draw of New York City was the city and its people and the hundreds of sites and sounds that surrounded Madison Square Garden, which really didn’t have to do anything to promote the Big East other than just hanging a huge banner outside of the arena. Kansas City obviously can’t compete with that, and so it steps up its level of promotion to another level to keep fans’ interest. As far as the crowds, Kansas City is driving distance for fans from Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State, so those are the schools best represented here. West Virginia’s fan contingent has grown over the years (not sure if that will be the case this season), but it would be hard for WVU’s crowd to ever compete here with ISU, K.U. and K-State.
Can we talk a little bit about the Sooners? Sure. Oklahoma is 2-2 over its final four games of the regular season and is coming off a 68-53 loss against Kansas State, in which the Sooners were held to 41.5 percent (22 of 53) shooting. That is a night-and-day difference from its 92-80 victory against the Mountaineers on March 2, in which O.U. shot nearly 60 percent from the floor and both Jamal Bieniemy and Aaron Calixte scored more than 20 points in a game for the first and only time this season. West Virginia also owns a 79-71 victory over Oklahoma, in which no O.U. player scored more than 18 and the Sooners were held to 42 percent shooting. So, the difference in both games and the key to tonight’s matchup will be whether or not the Mountaineers actually guard anyone.
“Defense is the key, no doubt,” McCabe said. “We let Oklahoma score 92. We let Oklahoma State score 85 (in the final regular season game). They can’t score that many points. This is West Virginia. This has been a team that prides itself on being tougher and sitting down and guarding. It starts with me and my position. I feel like I didn’t play good defense in Stillwater. I wasn’t in the right position a lot of times and I wasn’t off the ball enough. I think a lot of our guys are getting to the point where we’re starting to become more of a unit, not only offensively, but defensively, as well.”
Was Derek Culver bummed out about not winning Big 12 Freshman of the Year? Sort of, but he also understands some of the reasoning behind it. It’s hard not to notice that Texas’ Jaxson Hayes played in all 31 games, while Culver played in 21. Hayes is also third in the league in blocked shots. But, more to Culver’s story is that everything has come in stages this season, with each new step being a brand new experience for him. There was a time this season when he admits to thinking he would never start a game. Then, that turned into becoming the focus of opposing defenses and learning to deal with double- and triple-teams. That turns into nine double-doubles and two games with more than 20 rebounds. So, the last thing in his mind in January was the award, but by the beginning of March, he felt he had worked his way into serious contention.
“I congratulate him on winning the award,” Culver said. “He’s a very good player. I’m a good player. I don’t want to say I’m dissatisfied with how things worked out. It is what it is. It did leave a bad taste in my mouth. I tried to represent West Virginia and my team the best I could once I came back. I felt like I put my best two cents in. This is something I will not forget, though.”
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