Published: March 16, 2008 11:35 pm         

Mountaineers to face Arizona in first round

MORGANTOWN — West Virginia received an at-large bid to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament on Selection Sunday, as expected, and will play Arizona in the first round Thursday in Washington, D.C.

The Mountaineers (24-10) were seeded No. 7 in the West regional and the Wildcats No. 10. The winner of this contest will play the winner of a game between No. 2 Duke (27-5) and No. 15 Belmont (25-8) in Saturday’s second round.

Starting times have not been announced.

“We felt all along that we’d be a seventh seed,” said WVU coach Bob Huggins, who is taking a team to the Big Dance for the 16th time. He had a 14-year consecutive string during his lengthy stint at Cincinnati.

“It’s a hard game,” he reasoned. “That’s a very talented team. But I think all games are hard in the NCAAs.”

Asked whether going to that tournament has become an old habit, Huggins replied: “It’s supposed to be. If we’re going to have a national program, which we all want to be, you can’t go once every four or three years.”

He has faced Arizona a few times in his 26 seasons as a head coach.

While he didn’t know much about the Wildcats, Huggins said he would by this morning. “We’re not going for the experience. We’re going to win,” he added.

The players were jubilant when West Virginia was announced on TV for the 65-team field. But they did some sweating because they had to wait about 40 minutes to hear the good news.

“It was kinda nerve-wracking,” said sophomore Joe Mazzulla. “So it was a relief to hear that we’re in the tournament. Now we just need to come out, stay focused and do what we have to do.”

Joe Alexander, WVU’s leading scorer (16.8) and rebounder (6.1), said he’s happy with everything — the seeding, site and first opponent.

“It was a great feeling when we finally were called,” he admitted. “But we were a bit anxious. Now there’s a series of great teams, one after another. I think playing close to home is a great break for us.”

Sophomore Da’Sean Butler said, “I got real nervous waiting. But we all felt sure we’d be in there somewhere. I don’t really care where we’re seeded. What happens, happens.”

Alex Ruoff said, “I’m just happy to be where we are now. It’s something we’ve all worked hard to earn. Some guys were making jokes (while waiting).

“There were some doubts maybe. But I’m confident, very thankful and very appreciative.”

Darris Nichols, senior point guard, admittedly liked being paired against Arizona and he loved Washington as the site. “I kinda figured we’d be seeded about No. 7,” he said. “I’ve seen Arizona and they have a lot of good players.”

This will be the fifth meeting between the two schools. West Virginia’s only victory came on Dec. 20, 1948, by 61-58 in Morgantown. Arizona has won the other three games, including the last meeting by 75-74 in the Fiesta Bowl Classic at Tucson, Ariz., in 1992-93.

WVU has a 20-18 record in NCAA tournament games.