WVU men’s hoops continues to show faster pace in exhibition win against Glenville State
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GLENVILLE - West Virginia's pace of play is now taking turns at alarming rates.
That became official Friday night inside the Waco Center, as the Mountaineers knocked off Glenville State, 103-66.
Through two exhibition games, WVU is averaging 92 points and putting up about 68 shots per game, a night-and-day difference from the slow-and-steady pace under Ross Hodge last season, in which WVU averaged 55 shots per game.
Yes, they are just exhibition games and Friday's result came against an outmatched Division II school, but even WVU forward Brenen Lorient admits there is a different feeling in the air that he now finds himself gasping for in practices.
"Obviously we've got some faster guys," said Lorient, who was one of five WVU players in double figures with 14 points. "My guy Jasper Floyd (WVU's point guard last season), he's an older guy so he wasn't moving as fast up the court. We've got some young guys who really push the pace and put pressure on the defense.
"When I first came back, I definitely had to get my conditioning back, more than last year. I like it. I think it fits well into my play style."
The guy pushing the tempo is freshman Miles Sadler, who seems to get more comfortable playing at the college level with each passing day. He led WVU with 18 points, six assists, six rebounds and committed only one turnover.
"Definitely one turnover is an accomplishment," Sadler said. "I try and do my best to take care of the ball, because it's not just for me, it's for the team. The team needs the ball to score. Taking care of the ball is something I'm going to take pride in for the rest of the season."
If Sadler is at the wheel, then Hodge is pushing the buttons. If nothing else, he's showing an ability to adapt to his personnel, rather than trying to fit players into the same system year after year.
The faster play does come with conditions. Hodge is not interested in letting go of his defensive principles, but playing go-go-go does not keep him up at night at all.
"It wasn't like we recruited (Sadler), because he's really fast. That's just a byproduct of his skill set," Hodge said. "Naturally, that increases your pace. Having forwards like (Lorient), (Amadou) Seini and (Mouhamed) Sylla, they're just faster. The pace automatically picks up.
"The challenge becomes you don't want to lose your defensive principles just for the sake of saying we're going to play fast. You don't want to trade baskets just for the sake of pace."
WVU's offense is now more spread out than a year ago, when Honor Huff came in for one season and rewrote the school's record book for 3-pointers.
Now, it's Sadler coming off screens to launch a 3-pointer or Finley Bizjack or just about anyone else. WVU connected on 12 3-pointers against the Pioneers, with six players making at least one.
"It definitely has more of a spread-out type of vibe, rather than being dependent on one or two guys," Hodge said. "We feel comfortable with a lot of guys. We missed some today I thought were good looks. I felt like we had a lot of great shots tonight."
Martin Somerville came off the bench to score 11 points. The Florida State transfer has been in double figures in scoring in both exhibition games this season. Javan Buchanan and Sylla both added 10 points.
West Virginia hosts Wheeling University at 7 p.m. Wednesday to finish off the preseason.
NOTE
WVU played without forward Joson Sanon, who suffered a thigh bruise last week against Maryland.
"He got kneed on a ball screen," Hodge said. Maryland forward Pharrel, "Payne kneed him. That's a big knee. He was at practice (on Thursday) non-contact. Typically, you usually want to get a guy a little contact before you throw him in a game. He's trending in the right direction. Barring any setbacks, he'll be ready for Wednesday."