The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

College Sports

February 8, 2013

WVU's Huggins likes Monday 9 p.m. starts

By Mickey Furfari For The Register-Herald

MORGANTOWN — Stringing together some odds and ends: A writer asked West Virginia men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins whether he likes Monday night’s game starting at 9 o’clock?

“Probably a lot more then you do,” Huggins replied. He thought that the 4,966 people who turned out for WVU’s 60-58 victory over Texas last Monday night at the Coliseum in a snowstorm was very good. He noted that some people even came up from Charleston and, of course, most from the greater Morgantown area. “I was happy with that turnout,” he said.

While the weather conditions were terrible, I thought WVU workers did a fine job of removing snow from walkways outside the Coliseum during the game. That enabled people leaving after the game to find safer walking paths. Streets also were cleared.

---------

Huggins said when you go through a year like this, you almost feel hopeless. You want to take games one at a time. “I think we’re getting better at the guards. We’re rebounding better and I think we’re healthy again,” the veteran coach said.

The Mountaineers (11-11, 4-5 Big 12) are not scoring as much as they did in past years because some great scorers have graduated, according to Huggins.

“We don’t have guys like we had in past years,” he added.

WVU basketball coaches and players have not given up hope of qualifying for a berth in the NCAA Tournament. “Why should we?” Huggins said. “We just have to keep winning more games.”

-------

The Mountaineers swept the series with Texas in Monday’s rematch. They had won in overtime 57-53 in the first meeting on Jan. 9 at Austin, Texas. Huggins recalled that they shot only 30 percent from the field (19 of 62) down there. But they hit 46.2 percent in the rematch (18 of 39) Monday.

Texas shot only 34.5 percent (19 of 55) in the first meeting at home. But the Longhorns were limited to 35 percent (21 of 60) in Morgantown.

Both senior Deniz Kilicli and freshman Eron Harris believe they and their WVU teammates are on a roll and capable of finishing strong. Those two must continue to provide more offense, though.

The Mountaineers will seek a third consecutive victory on Saturday in a conference contest at Texas Christian University (9-11, 0-7 Big 12). Tip-off time is 4 p.m.

-----

Some people think the Big 12 conference would be wise to schedule basketball road games on a two-per-trip basis. That is, for example, book West Virginia at Texas on a Saturday and at a second conference school down there two nights later. That certainly would cut down on travel wear-and-tear as well as expenses.

In the 21 years Ed Pastilong served as athletic director, WVU would issue a full financial report within two months after the end of a fiscal year for the athletic department. But the media still have not received so much as a bottom line for fiscal 2011-12!

Shouldn’t the public have a right to know how many millions of dollars athletes are costing the university?

Text Only
College Sports
  • Six Concord baseball players selected for honors

    Six Concord University baseballplayers were recently honored with All-Atlantic Region accolades by either the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) or the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).

    May 23, 2013

  • WVU baseball changes up pitching lineup for Big 12 Championship

    Randy Mazey’s attention has been on everything but baseball in recent days, as the West Virginia University coach has been out in front of his team’s effort to help the tornado victims in Oklahoma, where his team has been this week preparing for the Big 12 Baseball Championships, which begin today at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla.

    May 22, 2013

  • 1MUSGRAVE1.jpg Musgrave, WVU teammates see tornado devastation up close

    West Virginia University pitcher Harrison Musgrave has spent his entire life in the hills of West Virginia. He didn’t know what a tornado siren was — let alone the damage that can be done by swirling winds.
    “I didn’t even know that they were going off,” Musgrave said. “I didn’t even know that they had sirens. I know I feel like a total idiot, but I heard them go off and I just thought it was an alarm going off.”

    May 22, 2013 1 Photo 6 Stories

  • WVU’s Musgrave wins Pitcher of the Year honors

    Six months ago, West Virginia University sophomore left-hander Harrison Musgrave was questioning his future with the WVU baseball program and first-year head coach Randy Mazey.

    May 21, 2013

  • Big 12 shifts tourney format

    The Big 12 Conference will still play the 2013 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship this week at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla., but in the wake of the devastating storm that blew through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on Monday, there will be some major changes to the format.

    May 21, 2013

  • WVU baseball team helps tornado victims

    West Virginia University head baseball coach Randy Mazey was having lunch at an Oklahoma City restaurant Monday afternoon, keeping a close watch on the television set.
    With every passing minute, the tornado that devastated the Oklahoma town of Moore, was moving closer and closer to his location and its path was being documented by a local television station. At one point, the coach even looked out the window to see if he could see the approaching funnel.

    May 21, 2013

  • College Roundup

    May 21, 2013

  • WVU should reinstate men’s track — not golf

    West Virginia University has not had a men’s golf team since 1982.
    But Oliver Luck, who’s been the school’s athletic director going on three years, reportedly is talking about bringing back that sport “because it’s cheap.”

    May 21, 2013

  • Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship Format Changed

    In the wake of this week’s devastating storm in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, the Big 12 Conference is postponing the start of the 2013 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship. No. 3 seeded WVU scheduled to take on Kansas at 4 p.m. (Central) on Thursday.

    May 21, 2013

  • Misled West Virginia students deprived of Big 12 baseball games

    It now appears to be a fact that West Virginia University athletic officials misled students and the general public in not playing any Big 12 Conference baseball games at Hawley Field in Morgantown this season.

    May 21, 2013