MORGANTOWN — We welcome you to the TD Arena, on the campus of the University of Charleston (S.C.), the host of the 2021 Charleston Classic, where West Virginia looks to extend its recent success in in-season tournament play.
How much success? The Mountaineers are 5-0 over the last two seasons with tournament titles in the 2019 Cancun Challenge and the 2020 Crossover Classic.
For added measure, WVU went 2-1 at the 2018 Myrtle Beach Invitational to take third place. We bring that up, because the Mountaineers’ following at Myrtle Beach was outstanding. West Virginians know Myrtle Beach is often referred to as “West Virginia South,” and seeing how it’s only about a two-hour drive between Myrtle and Charleston, you could see TD Arena (capacity is 5,100) packed with gold and blue in impressive fashion.
Up first is a not-to-be-overlooked Elon team that was beaten up pretty good by Florida to start the season, but the Phoenix did outscore the Gators in the second half of that game. Since then, Elon is averaging 98 points per game (albeit against lesser competition) and are connecting on 3-pointers at an alarming rate.
The Phoenix hit 20 of them (the NCAA record is 28) against Randolph College and added 11 more against Bluefield (Va.) College. Now, we suspect that neither Randolph or Bluefield have the type of perimeter defenders that West Virginia seem to have this season, but we figured the stats were worth a note.
“When they get on a roll, they make a lot of shots,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said. “They’re really good if you give them step-in shots. You’ve got to make them play on the run. You’ve got to make them play a little faster than they want to play. I think the more we speed them up, the harder it will be for them to score baskets.”
The Charleston Classic features three teams that played in the 2021 NCAA tournament — WVU, St. Bonaventure and Clemson — and No. 22 St. Bonaventure comes into the tournament as the only nationally ranked team.
Marquette and Ole Miss will meet in the first round on WVU’s side of the bracket and both have some interesting storylines. Temple and Clemson will meet on St. Bonaventure’s side of the bracket. The Bonnies will play Boise State in the first round.
As for storylines, Marquette is now coached by Shaka Smart, who was 7-6 against the Mountaineers as Texas’ head coach. Smart has already made his mark by leading the Golden Eagles to a 67-66 upset of No. 10 Illinois, a game where Illinois turned the ball over 26 times.
Ole Miss was 16-12 last season and returns two starters from that team. The Rebels also have forward Jaemyn Brakefield, whom you may remember as one of Duke’s top 5-star recruits from the 2020 class. The 6-foot-8 forward is originally from Mississippi, but finished his high school career at Huntington Prep in West Virginia, where he played alongside WVU forward Isaiah Cottrell. Brakefield transferred out of Duke after his freshman season and went back home to Ole Miss, and is now averaging 9.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
Second-round games are scheduled for Friday and all teams will have an off day on Saturday, before the tournament concludes Sunday.
As for the rest, here’s what you need to know:
TV: ESPN2 (Comcast 36, 853 HD; 209 DirecTV; 143 DISH) for the 9 p.m. tip-off. BETTING LINE: West Virginia is a 14-point favorite.
WHAT DOES BOB HUGGINS HAVE TO SAY?
The WVU head coach stressed the importance of the in-season tournaments, saying they provide an NCAA tournament-style setting where teams have to move on quickly and prepare for a new opponent overnight.
We went back and looked to see if there was any correlation between WVU having won an in-season tournament and then having success in the NCAA tournament.
Here’s what we found: WVU has won six of the 14 in-season tournaments it’s played with Huggins as the head coach. In those six seasons, WVU advanced to the NCAA tournament every season except for 2020, when the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19. Of the five NCAA tournaments WVU played, the Mountaineers advanced past the second round three times.
In the eight tournaments they failed to win a title, the Mountaineers still qualified for five NCAA tournaments and made it past the second round twice. It’s also worth noting that the other three seasons were Huggins’ worst with the Mountaineers. The 13-19 year in 2012-13 saw no postseason. The 17-16 year in 2013-14 saw WVU lose in the first round of the NIT and the 15-21 year in 2018-19 saw WVU lose in the second round of the CBI.
So, what’s the take? At the very least, a championship in the Charleston Classic points to another NCAA tournament season for WVU, while a loss could point to just about anything; from the NCAA tourney all the way to a losing season.
LOOKING BACK AT PITT
The Mountaineers (2-0) enter the Charleston Classic with an opportunity to make a good impression on Top 25 voters. Already this week, No. 20 Maryland was upset by George Mason, meaning a spot for a new team could open up for the next poll. Other ranked teams may get upset in other in-season tournaments and WVU could possibly meet up with No. 22 St. Bonaventure in the third round.
WVU is coming off a 74-59 win against rival Pitt and has had five days of preparation time for the Charleston Classic. It was WVU’s fifth consecutive win against Pitt, which turned the ball over 32 times and had 11 of its shots blocked.
Jalen Bridges seems to be coming into his own. He had 18 points and five blocks for WVU. The tandem of Malik Curry and Kedrian Johnson has become a defensive nightmare for opposing teams, even if their offensive games haven’t quite taken off yet.
Taz Sherman is the no-question offensive leader of the team and this tournament may be the start of Sean McNeil showcasing his importance. McNeil shot 3 of 4 from 3-point range against Pitt and has now made at least one 3-pointer in 17 consecutive games.
With that said, WVU has got to find a way to rebound the ball. On the season, the Mountaineers are 344th in the nation (out of 350 teams) in rebounding margin at (negative) -15.5 per game. WVU has made up for that, so far, in blocking shots (leads the Big 12 at 9 per game), taking charges and forcing turnovers (No. 2 in the country at 28.5 per game). Another thing to be pointed out here is Oakland and Pitt basically were forced away from the 3-point line. The two schools combined to shoot just 6 of 29 from 3-point range. That’s just 20.7%, which ranks WVU’s 3-point defense 15th in the country.
How much longer can you depend on those other things happening, though? It’s unrealistic that WVU will keep blocking nine shots per game and sometimes those charging calls go the other way. Forcing turnovers will be key, but the even then the rebounding has to improve to win consistently.
“We haven’t rebounded the ball,” Huggins said. “We haven’t done a lot of good things inside. We’ve got to block people out. We have spent a good deal of time in the practices that we’ve had on keeping people on our backs. We’re big and strong enough to do that, we just don’t do it.”
PREDICTION TIME
West Virginia has not been good yet against the spread. The line for the Pitt game actually jumped up to 17 late and the Mountaineers failed to cover. It’s hard to blow any team out if you don’t rebound and give teams second chances and also WVU is shooting just 51% from the foul line as a team. Those misses mean you don’t cover. Don’t be surprised if the 14-point line against Elon jumps up late, too.
On paper, Elon is outmatched here and the Phoenix will likely turn the ball over a lot (although they had only 14 against Florida). I just can’t keep picking WVU to cover a large number until the Mountaineers actually show they can do it. WVU wins, but no cover, 72-61.
Justin’s season picks against the spread: 0-1-1.
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