The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

College Sports

January 25, 2012

WVU to face St. John’s at Madison Square Garden

From staff, wire reports The Register-Herald

A big game in a big-time arena.

That’s what West Virginia University will experience tonight as the Mountaineers put their three-game winning streak on the line against St. John’s at the famed Madison Square Garden.

The Mountaineers (15-5 overall, 5-2 Big East) are coming off a 77-74 overtime victory over Cincinnati Saturday.

“I told them, ‘You’re getting ready to play in the largest city in the world in the most famous arena in the world.

“Why wouldn’t you be excited about that?’ As a player I couldn’t wait to go to Madison Square Garden,” said WVU head coach Bob Huggins. “It ought to be a dream come true for all these freshmen. Obviously KJ and Truck have played there a lot.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in a game televised nationally on ESPNU.

WVU is currently in a three-way tie with South Florida and Marquette for third place in conference standings behind 8-1 Syracuse and 6-2 Georgetown.

St. John’s is 8-11, 2-6 following its 79-76 overtime home loss to Villanova on Saturday.

St. John’s has one of the youngest teams in the country with five freshmen, a junior college transfer and one true junior among its top seven.

“I think they’re getting better and better,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “They had a great chance to beat Villanova at home. They went to Cincinnati and won.

“They’re talented,” Huggins added.

Moe Harkless, a 6-foot-8, 203-pound freshman forward, leads St. John’s in scoring and rebounding with averages of 15.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game while adding 35 blocks, 30 steals and 45.6 percent shooting from the floor.

D’Angelo Harrison, another freshman, is averaging 15.3 points per game and has made a team-best 36 3-point field goals. Harrison is coming off a season high 28-point performance against Villanova.

God’sgift Achiuwa, a 6-foot-8, 236-pound junior, is averaging 11.1 points and 6.4 boards per game. He is shooting a team-best 53.2 percent from the floor this year.

West Virginia has one of the best scoring tandems in the Big East in seniors Kevin Jones and Truck Bryant, who both hail from the metropolitan New York City area.

Jones leads the Big East in scoring (20.7 ppg.) and rebounding (11.5 rpg.) while shooting a team-best 55.4 percent from the floor. He is coming off a 26-point, 13-rebound effort against Cincinnati.

Junior forward Deniz Kilicli is contributing 11.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game and is coming off a 13-point, seven-rebound afternoon against the Bearcats

St. John’s is playing without its head coach Steve Lavin, who is still recovering from successful prostate cancer surgery after coaching just four games this season. He is not expected to return for this season.

Assistant coach Mike Dunlap has been running the team in his absence.

Wednesday night’s game will be the 37th meeting between the two schools. The Mountaineers won 10 in a row until St. John’s knocked them off in Morgantown last year, 81-71. West Virginia has won five in a row at St. John’s, including the last three at Madison Square Garden.

Text Only
College Sports
  • Harrick was greatest 2-sport coach at WVU

    The late Steve Harrick was the longest serving, most successful two-sport head coach in West Virginia University’s athletic history.

    May 18, 2013

  • Concord wastes 2-run lead in 9th, eliminated from regional

    Concord University lost a two-run lead in the ninth inning and was eliminated from the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region baseball playoffs by the Winston-Salem State Rams, 7-5 on Friday afternoon at Gene Hooks Field.

    May 18, 2013

  • Musgrave named Pitcher of the Year Finalist

    May 16, 2013

  • Concord drops NCAA Tournament opener to Millersville 5-4 in Winston-Salem

    May 16, 2013

  • Crutchfield talks about his system, recruiting, focus

    Jim Crutchfield, whose basketball program at West Liberty University is the nation’s best in NCAA Division II, insists that there’s really no secret to his team’s soaring success.
    The Hilltoppers not only lead the collegiate basketball world in scoring with an incredible 103-point average but also are No. 1 in marginal victory at 25-plus.
    “I try to stay as local as I can in recruiting,” the 57-year-old Clarksburg native said. Most of his players come from West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

    May 16, 2013

  • 051613 wvu marshall ‘It’s been great for the state’

    West Virginia and Marshall are going to continue to meet on the baseball diamond. After a nearly 15-year break in the series, all involved agreed that rekindling the rivalry between the state’s two biggest schools — a series that culminated with a 6-5 Marshall victory Tuesday at Linda K. Epling Stadium — was a solid idea.

    May 15, 2013 1 Photo

  • WVU closes season against OSU

    The West Virginia University baseball team will close out the regular season this weekend against Big 12 foe Oklahoma State at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., and there will be a great deal on the line.

    May 15, 2013

  • Brett Morris will walk on at WVU

    The West Virginia University basketball team will be filled with southern West Virginia flavor next season after Brett Morris announced this week that he’ll be joining head coach Bob Huggins’ program as a preferred walk-on. Morris, the Class AA all-state captain, will join Shady Spring’s Chase Connor, who will also be walking on for the Mountaineers, and Greenbrier East’s Richard Romeo, who is already a walk-on in the program.

    May 15, 2013

  • Jim Crutchfield ‘miracle man’ at West Liberty

    May 15, 2013

  • No doubt about it, WVU-MU series should continue

    West Virginia and Marshall need to play baseball every year. Period.

    May 15, 2013