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.
News on Bevo Beat is free and unlimited. Access to the rest of Hookem.com is included with an Austin American-Statesman subscription in addition to Statesman.com and the ePaper edition. Subscribe today at statesman.com/subscribe.
Comments