Gameday: #10 Marquette at West Virginia

#10 Marquette at West Virginia
8:00 ESPN

First a few quick hitters....

• Davante Gardner: Will this be the game? Davante has been moving much better and has been doing more and more with the team. He has been working with them in practices and pre-game workouts, but the decision isn't his, it isn't Buzz, it is up to Earnest Eugene. My guess is that Davante sees minimal action.
  
  
• Mark Strottman has a nice story on MU recruit Steve Taylor. I will have a short video with Taylor, Kendrick Nunn and Simeon coach Robert Smith later today.
  
  
• MU jumped up to #10 in the rankings this week, after beating Rutgers, if MU can win at West Virginia, they will move up at least one spot as #8 Georgetown lost to Seton Hall.
  
  
• Steve Novak continues to impress for the Knicks, "Money" put up 12 points in 19 minutes last night, the 7th time in 11 games he scored in double digits. He is averaging 12.3 ppg in the last 11 games.

On to the Mountaineers....

Question #1 - Having grown up in Huntington, WV, freshman guard Todd Mayo has the West Virginia WV logo tattoed on his arm. AlphaBangura wants to know, will he cover it up tonight?

No question that the Mountaineers have been on a slide of late, Bobby Huggins crew has lost 6 of their last 8 games, including a no-show in their last game at Notre Dame where they lost 71-44. Averaging over 72 points per game, the 44 point output has to be tearing up Huggins. The Mountaineers only managed to grab 24 rebounds in that game, almost 14 below their average. Don't expect that kind of result against MU, as the Golden Eagles continue their struggles on the glass.

West Virginia has always been a tough place to play. As Buzz Williams said on Wednesday, "I don't know if you've ever been to West Virginia, and you think I'm from the country? Man, that's a different joint there, and they'll be fired up!" The Mountaineers have a 10-4 record at home, three of those four losses coming in the Big East to Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Louisville.

When it comes to stopping west Virginia, there is no question that all eyes turn to projected Big East Player of the Year Kevin Jones. The 6'8 senior is leading the Big East in both scoring and rebounding, averaging over 20 & 11 per game. Jae Crowder is likely to draw that defensive assignment and with Jones receiving high pre-season accolades from the media while only projecting Crowder as Honorable Mention All-Big East, he is looking forward to the matchup. "I've been wanting to play him all year. when they said I was only honorable mention, I felt I could do much better than that, so I have used it for motivation all year."

After Jones look to Darryl Bryant. The senior guard can hit from outside, get to the hole and puts up 16.5 points per game. With an assist to turnover ratio of 1.2, Bryant doesn't turn the ball over a lot, but when playing teams that pressure the ball up top, he can and will cough it up.

West Virginia primarily runs with a 9 man rotation. WVU will play a much more physical style ball than MU has seen of late, and with Jamil Wilson and Jae Crowder holding down the fort in the middle, the Golden Eagles can not let them dictate style of play, MU has to stay out of foul trouble. Force the game outside, the Mountaineers are not a great 3 pt shooting team - at just over 30%, the only real deep threats are freshman Jabari Hinds (.338) and freshman reserve Aaron Brown who has hit on 24 of 57 threes (.421).

Late in the game if it is close and MU has managed to stay out of foul trouble, they can be more aggressive in the paint as the Mountaineers only shoot 66% from the free throw line. Stay away from Jones and Bryant and feel free to foul anyone else.

Prediction: West Virginia will be fighting for their lives as a first round bye in the Big East Tournament is on the line, but MU holds on... MU 81, West Virginia 73

Tale of the tape....