BEVO BEAT Men's Basketball
Men’s preview: No. 10 West Virginia vs. Texas
Posted January 13th, 2017
Time: 3 p.m. Saturday
Where: Erwin Center (capacity 16,540)
TV/Radio: ESPN2/104.9 FM The Horn
Series history: Texas leads the all-time series 8-4. The Longhorns have won six of the last seven games, including a two-game sweep last season. The Mountaineers’ only win in Austin came on Jan. 9, 2013 — a 57-53 victory in overtime.
| TEXAS (7-9, 1-3 Big 12 overall) | |||||||
| No. | Pos. | Player | Class | Ht. | Wt. | PPG | RPG |
| 12 | G | Kerwin Roach Jr. | Soph. | 6-4 | 175 | 11.3 | 3.3* |
| 1 | G | Andrew Jones | Fr. | 6-4 | 190 | 9.6 | 2.6* |
| 10 | G | Eric Davis Jr. | Soph. | 6-3 | 195 | 7.0 | 3.0 |
| 31 | F | Jarrett Allen | Fr. | 6-11 | 235 | 11.2 | 7.7 |
| 32 | F | Shaq Cleare | Sr. | 6-8 | 275 | 7.0 | 5.1 |
| Coach: Shaka Smart (27-22, 2nd season at Texas; 190-78, 8th season overall) | |||||||
| *-indicates assists per game | |||||||
About the Longhorns: By all indications, Oak Hill Academy point guard Matt Coleman, the sole focus of UT coach Shaka Smart’s backcourt recruiting efforts, is ready to make a final decision. The Virginia native is expected to announce whether he will attend Texas or Duke on Monday. … With Tevin Mack suspended indefinitely, the Longhorns are suddenly without their leading scorer (14.8). That puts extra emphasis on big men Jarrett Allen, Shaq Cleare and James Banks, especially against a team that wants to turn the game into a track meet. Together, the trio is averaging 19.7 points. … Mack’s absence could force graduate transfer Mareik Isom into the lineup whether he’s fully healthy or not. The 6-foot-9 forward has not played this season due to an ankle injury.
| No. 10 WEST VIRGINIA (14-2, 3-1 Big 12 overall) | |||||||
| No. | Pos. | Player | Class | Ht. | Wt. | PPG | RPG |
| 2 | G | Jevon Carter | Jr. | 6-2 | 200 | 10.9 | 4.8* |
| 4 | G | Daxter Miles Jr. | Jr. | 6-3 | 200 | 10.6 | 2.1 |
| 11 | F | Nathan Adrian | Sr. | 6-9 | 235 | 10.7 | 6.5 |
| 23 | F | Esa Ahmad | Soph. | 6-8 | 225 | 12.6 | 4.8 |
| 20 | F | Brandon Watkins | Sr. | 6-9 | 225 | 7.9 | 4.3 |
| Coach: Bob Huggins (215-112, 10th season at West Virginia; 733-298, 32nd season overall) | |||||||
| *-indicates assists per game | |||||||
About the Mountaineers: There was a lot of hype earlier this week when Baylor was named the nation’s No. 1 team in the weekly Associated Press Top 25 poll. West Virginia promptly cut Baylor down to size with an 89-68 win just one day later. The Bears had a season-high 29 turnovers and never led once. “They just kicked our butt,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. … West Virginia’s ability to force turnovers is what fuels its sky-high scoring totals. Coach Bob Huggins’ crew ranks fifth nationally in scoring (90.1) and 27th in shooting (.486). … In a perfect situation, Huggins would prefer his team get more shots than the opponent. That’s what happened against Baylor. It’s a solid offensive rebounding team (15.9) that racks up plenty of multiple chances.
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