The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

College Sports

February 6, 2013

Finally, Huggs has reason to smile

Coach says team ‘getting better’ after win over Texas

By Cam Huffman Sports Editor

West Virginia University head basketball coach Bob Huggins has said many times that he’s pretty much seen it all out of his team this season.

But on Monday night after the Mountaineers defeated Texas 60-58 in a Big Monday game on ESPN — marking WVU’s first back-to-back wins since winning three straight against Oakland, Radford and Eastern Kentucky to end the month of December, and its first back-to-back victories all year in Big 12 play — members of the media saw something they hadn’t seen from the veteran coach this year — smiles.

Twenty-two games into a 31-game regular season, Huggins finally saw his Mountaineers (11-11, 4-5 Big 12) playing the type of basketball he expected from them when the season began.

“I think we have a chance,” said Huggins in the postgame press conference, sticking with comments he made earlier in the week about his team still having a shot at the NCAA Tournament. “I think we’re getting better at guarding, and we have started to rebound better.”

Huggins, though, isn’t ready to put his stamp of approval on where his team stands.

“When you go through years like this, you learn the meaning of the old cliché, take them one at a time,” said Huggins. “There were other times we thought we turned the corner, and then we took a step back.”

But a couple of individual performances at least have given the coach some hope.

Freshman guard Eron Harris is living up to his potential.

Harris reached double figures in scoring only four times in his first 14 games, but he’s reached that mark in six of the last seven, including 19 against TCU, 18 against Texas Tech and 17 against Oklahoma State.

His confidence is growing with every game.

“More importantly, his teammates have confidence in him,” Huggins explained. “They’re looking to get him the ball.”

The other big difference is the play of senior forward Deniz Kilicli. Considered to be one of the team’s biggest threats when the season began, the Istanbul, Turkey, native went through a stretch where he was barely seeing the floor. Over the last five games, though, he’s reached double figures three times, including a 14-point performance Monday night against the Longhorns.

“I thought he was terrific — so much more active,” said Huggins. “He does a great job of sealing people. We don’t do a great job of getting him the ball, but I think the last two games were the best two all-around games that Deniz has played.”

If Huggins’ club is going to make a run, the schedule sets up perfectly. It’s going to take some head-turning wins to grab the attention of the NCAA Selection Committee, and those are on the schedule — at No. 13 Kansas State (Feb. 18), at home against No. 22 Oklahoma State (Feb. 23) and at No. 5 Kansas March 2 — but there are also some very winnable games.

WVU will be at TCU (9-12), which is 0-8 in Big 12 play, on Saturday and then make the trip to Baylor (14-7) on Feb. 13. The Mountaineers will also get another meeting at home against Texas Tech (9-10) and will face Oklahoma (14-7) for the third time this season on March 6.

— E-mail chuffman@

register-herald.com and follow on Twitter

@CamHuffmanRH.

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