MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Welcome to Hilton Coliseum, the site of frustration, at times, for the WVU men’s basketball team. The 17th-ranked Mountaineers (11-5, 4-3 Big 12) are 3-5 all-time at the arena and head coach Bob Huggins was ejected from the 2019 game that ended up being a 25-point loss.
WVU did pull out a 77-71 victory there last season, which ended a three-game losing streak at the time. Derek Culver led the way with 17 points and nine rebounds. That win also set up WVU for some late momentum that never got a chance to get going. After winning at Iowa State last season, the Mountaineers returned home to knock off No. 4 Baylor and then the season came to a screeching halt due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Not that we’re simply overlooking this game (Iowa State is ninth in the Big 12 in scoring and last in points allowed), but we are beginning to wonder what another win at Hilton could set up for the Mountaineers?
What comes next may be a historic gauntlet, at least since the Mountaineers joined the Big East in 1995, anyway.
Their next six consecutive games are all against AP Top 25 teams. It begins with No. 23 Kansas at home on Saturday and ends on Feb. 20 with a road game at No. 6 Texas. In between are back-to-back games against No. 2 Baylor and rematches with No. 13 Texas Tech and No. 9 Oklahoma. WVU will play three of those games over a span of just five days, thanks to the rescheduling of one of the Baylor games due to a COVID-19 postponement.
So, we did a little research. Going back to as early as the old Big East days, the longest stretch of top 25 opponents until now has been four in a row. That came during the 2013-14 season, or what was West Virginia’s second season in the Big 12.
WVU, which was unranked at the time, hosted No. 21 Oklahoma, traveled to No. 8 Kansas, hosted No. 11 Iowa State and then traveled to No. 19 Texas. WVU went 2-2 during the stretch, winning the two home games against Oklahoma and Iowa State.
There have been other tough stretches. The 2004-05 Elite 8 team finished its season playing six of its final seven games against ranked teams, but those were Big East and NCAA tournament games. The only team that wasn’t ranked was the first-round game against Creighton in the NCAA tournament, and that game went down to the wire.
As far as the regular season is concerned, WVU played 7 of 9 games against ranked teams to close out the 2010-11 season, while in the Big East. WVU went 3-4 in those games, including two losses against Pitt, but also had wins against Notre Dame, Connecticut and Louisville.
In the 2015-16 season, the Mountaineers played 6 of 7 games against ranked teams and went 3-3, which set up a run to the 2016 Big 12 tournament title game and then a first-round loss in the NCAA tournament against Stephen F. Austin.
Maybe a more intriguing run of games came during the 2008-09 season, in which the Mountaineers had a stretch of nine ranked opponents over a span of 14 games. That included a nonconference game against Ohio State, two games against Pitt and a trip to Syracuse’s Carrier Dome. WVU went just 3-6 in that stretch.
In all that time, never was there a stretch of six straight against ranked teams.
“I’m very real (with his players),” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said. “I’ve brought it up. I think they understand what’s coming.”
Which brings us back to today’s game against Iowa State, the calm before the storm. Here’s what you need to know:
TV: ESPN+ (Online subscription needed) for the 7 p.m. tip-off. BETTING LINE: West Virginia is an 11.5-point favorite.
WHAT DOES BOB HUGGINS HAVE TO SAY?
The West Virginia head coach spoke a lot about his players’ lack of competitiveness on the defensive end, leading Huggins to claim he’s no doctor of any sort.
“I’m not a witch doctor. I’m certainly not a cardiologist,” Huggins began. “At some point in time, I think they ought to get tired of losing these games. A lot of guarding is wanting to. I’ve had guys that weren’t as fundamentally sound as a lot of other guys, but they worked their tails off, because they took a lot of pride in it.
“I just don’t see a lot of pride. I don’t see anybody getting mad when their man scores. I don’t see anybody upset. They just can’t wait to get it out of bounds and go the other way. That’s not a good thing. It’s got to matter to you. Everybody gets mad when they miss a shot. You ought to get mad when your man makes one.”
There was also this nugget on Culver’s rebounding ability:
“Derek’s obviously a premier rebounder,” Huggins said. “I thought Devin (Williams) was a terrific rebounder and so were others that I’ve had over the years. I think with Derek it’s a consistency thing. He had six the other day (against Oklahoma). Then turns around and gets twelve. He had eighteen back-to-back. You’re not going to get eighteen every game. I fully understand that, but I think Derek could consistently be a double-figure rebound guy.
“It’s kind of like guarding people. You have to want to. I never had a rebounder that didn’t want to rebound. I think as Derek becomes more consistent with his play, which he has over the years, I think he’ll be one of the premier, if not the premier, rebounder in America. But it’s going to take consistency.”
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS
WEST VIRGINIA (11-5, 4-3 Big 12)
F–Derek Culver, 6-10, jr., 14.1 ppg, 10.3 rpg
F–Jalen Bridges, 6-7, fr., 4.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg
G–Jordan McCabe., 6-0, jr., 2.4 ppg, 1.4 rpg
G–Deuce McBride, 6-2, soph., 15.4 ppg, 4.5 apg
G–Sean McNeil, 6-3, jr., 10.5 ppg, 1.7 rpg
IOWA STATE (2-9, 0-6 Big 12)
F–George Conditt IV, 6-10, jr., 1.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg
G–Darlinstone Dubar, 6-6, fr., 2.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg
G–Jaden Walker, 6-5, fr., 2.7 ppg, 1.8 rpg
G–Rasir Bolton, 6-3, jr., 15.5 ppg, 4.3 apg
G–Tyler Harris, 5-9, jr., 7.5 ppg, 1.2 rpg
NOTE: Iowa State has played its last two games without starters Solomon Young and Javon Johnson, who have been out dealing with COVID-19 issues. They could both be back for today’s game.
PREDICTION TIME
There should be plenty of scoring in this game, because both teams are struggling defensively. I wish I knew if Young and Johnson were back for the Cyclones, but even if they are, there may be some rust to shake off. Even in a road game, it’s hard to think WVU doesn’t play well against a struggling team. I’ll take WVU to win and cover, 81-62.
Justin’s season picks against the spread: 6-7-1.
