By Dave Morrison
Last year, when Mountain State University played an exhibition game at West Virginia, MSU returned five starters and WVU was three weeks into implementing WVU coach Bob Huggins’ offense and defense.
This year, the roles have seemingly flipped.
It is now MSU that brings in a new team — minus five starters from last year’s NAIA national runner-up team — and WVU that returns several starters from a team that went to the NCAA Sweet 16 last year. The two teams square off in Morgantown today at the WVU Coliseum at 1 p.m.
“Which is why I think they will be much better this time around,” Mountain State coach Bob Bolen said. “We are teaching what is a new system to our guys. Coach (Bob) Huggins has guys who are now in their second year in his system. I anticipate a very, very good team we’re going to see. It’s the best we’ll see this year, obviously.”
Last year, Mountain State played well and, with seven minutes left, trailed by just six points. WVU ended up winning 88-65.
The Cougars are off to a typical start, 3-0, and they have won convincingly, averaging 101.3 points per game.
“We have been dominant so far, but we haven’t played the level of talent we’re going to see (today), with a coaching staff that demands players work as hard as WVU’s does,” Bolen said. “It’s a huge challenge, and something this group hasn’t seen.”
Mountain State has six players averaging 12 points or more on the season, led by Andrew Lee’s 18.3 ppg. Fellow starters A.J. Pigram (15.7)
West Virginia hasn’t announced a starting five, but Joe Mazzulla, Da’Sean Butler and Alex Ruoff are almost assuredly three who will start. Wellington Smith figures to see major minutes, along with several freshman from what many consider one of WVU’s best recruiting classes.”
“We remember that they played us tough and close for a long time last year before we finally pulled away in the last four or five minutes,” point guard Joe Mazzulla told Mickey Furfari recently. “So we know it's not going to be an easy game.
“They are a pretty good team, and we're tired of going against ourselves. We're ready to play different personnel. We know the plays that we run, and we know where each player is on the floor and what each does.”
For those anticipating a Mountaineer blowout, consider what happened Thursday, when NAIA No. 2 Robert Morris beat Northwestern 69-62.
— E-mail: demorrison@register-herald.com
