BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: CONNECTICUT @ WEST VIRGINIA
January 6, 2009
after splitting their first two Big East games at home, Jim Calhoun's Connecticut club takes to the conference road and looks to throw their hat back into the ring as a conference challenger when they take on West Virginia. As always, expect the Colisuem to be rocking in Morgantown when the 5th-ranked Huskies come to battle the #25 Mountaineers.
Here are some pregame stories and previews found on the web:
No. 5 Huskies Happy to be on the Road (TheDay.com)
Murderer’s Row Begins (Charleston Gazette)
Firing the Musket (TheDay.com)
Big Test for WVU (Times West Virginian)
Mountaineers vs. Huskies (wvmetronews.com)
Defense Has UConn Feeling at Ease (Hartford Courant)
Mazzulla Hoping to Make it Back (Charleston Gazette)
Thabeet Center of WVU’s Attention (Connecticut Post)
UConn Men’s Gameday (Connecticut Post)
UConn started off conference play with a result and effort that left Jim Calhoun very irritated against Georgetown. UConn rebounded with an 80-49 blowout of Rutgers on Saturday, but this is a chance to the Huskies to re-establish themselves as a Big East favorite. You know they will come out fired up in an effort to avoid a 1-2 conference start.
West Virginia has been a very interesting team that has been quietly been building some impressive momentum while not many were looking. In their last four games (Miami OH, Radford, at Ohio State, at SHU), WVU has won by an average score of 85-54, yet the 11-2 Mountaineers barely squeezed into the top 25 this week at #25.
The obvious match-up area to watch will be in the paint where UConn will have a starting frontcourt of 7'3 Hasheem Thabeet, 6'9 Stanley Robinson and physical 6'7 Jeff Adrien setting up shop as starters with versatile 6'9 forward Gavin Edwards most-used off the bench.. A guard line-up of AJ Price, Jerome Dyson, Kemba Walker and Craig Austrie, for the most part, makes up the UConn rotation.
WVU is not that tall, usually using several forwards in the 6'7-6'8 range to make up their frontcourt. It truly is a group by committee as Devin Ebanks, Wellington Smith, John Flowers and Kevin Jones all have the ability to go inside and out offensively and will hit the boards aggressively. Their effort will be at a high level and will force the hand of Thabeet to be the aggressive post player that UConn needs in order for them to be successful.
A quick way to ignite the WVU faithful is a quick-htting htree from senior Alex Ruoff. Da'Sean Butler has the potential to light up a scoreboard, so the defensive pressure on the wings by UConn will be a key. With only true freshman Darryl Bryant left as a true point guard with Joe Mazzulla's shoulder injury, a big weight is on the NYC native against the big boys of the Big East.
This game is a personal challenge to Hasheem Thabeet and will likely be presented to him in that way by his coach. Thabeet must step up and control play in the paint to give Jeff Adrien the room to dominate the boards. If Thabeet is passive against the smaller Mountaineer forwards, UConn could be in trouble as a Bob Huggins team will not back down on their home court.
The latest NCAA basketball odds have WVU as a three and a half point favorite. I just do not see a UConn team going 1-2 in Big East play to the hands of a freshman point guard and a smaller line-up. It will be a battle, but if AJ Price can step up his game and Thabeet doesn't run and hide, UConn should earn a very tough road win.
NBE Blogger Prediction:
Connecticut 70
West Virginia 65
This one will be worth watching!!!
after splitting their first two Big East games at home, Jim Calhoun's Connecticut club takes to the conference road and looks to throw their hat back into the ring as a conference challenger when they take on West Virginia. As always, expect the Colisuem to be rocking in Morgantown when the 5th-ranked Huskies come to battle the #25 Mountaineers.
Here are some pregame stories and previews found on the web:
No. 5 Huskies Happy to be on the Road (TheDay.com)
Murderer’s Row Begins (Charleston Gazette)
Firing the Musket (TheDay.com)
Big Test for WVU (Times West Virginian)
Mountaineers vs. Huskies (wvmetronews.com)
Defense Has UConn Feeling at Ease (Hartford Courant)
Mazzulla Hoping to Make it Back (Charleston Gazette)
Thabeet Center of WVU’s Attention (Connecticut Post)
UConn Men’s Gameday (Connecticut Post)
UConn started off conference play with a result and effort that left Jim Calhoun very irritated against Georgetown. UConn rebounded with an 80-49 blowout of Rutgers on Saturday, but this is a chance to the Huskies to re-establish themselves as a Big East favorite. You know they will come out fired up in an effort to avoid a 1-2 conference start.
West Virginia has been a very interesting team that has been quietly been building some impressive momentum while not many were looking. In their last four games (Miami OH, Radford, at Ohio State, at SHU), WVU has won by an average score of 85-54, yet the 11-2 Mountaineers barely squeezed into the top 25 this week at #25.
The obvious match-up area to watch will be in the paint where UConn will have a starting frontcourt of 7'3 Hasheem Thabeet, 6'9 Stanley Robinson and physical 6'7 Jeff Adrien setting up shop as starters with versatile 6'9 forward Gavin Edwards most-used off the bench.. A guard line-up of AJ Price, Jerome Dyson, Kemba Walker and Craig Austrie, for the most part, makes up the UConn rotation.
WVU is not that tall, usually using several forwards in the 6'7-6'8 range to make up their frontcourt. It truly is a group by committee as Devin Ebanks, Wellington Smith, John Flowers and Kevin Jones all have the ability to go inside and out offensively and will hit the boards aggressively. Their effort will be at a high level and will force the hand of Thabeet to be the aggressive post player that UConn needs in order for them to be successful.
A quick way to ignite the WVU faithful is a quick-htting htree from senior Alex Ruoff. Da'Sean Butler has the potential to light up a scoreboard, so the defensive pressure on the wings by UConn will be a key. With only true freshman Darryl Bryant left as a true point guard with Joe Mazzulla's shoulder injury, a big weight is on the NYC native against the big boys of the Big East.
This game is a personal challenge to Hasheem Thabeet and will likely be presented to him in that way by his coach. Thabeet must step up and control play in the paint to give Jeff Adrien the room to dominate the boards. If Thabeet is passive against the smaller Mountaineer forwards, UConn could be in trouble as a Bob Huggins team will not back down on their home court.
The latest NCAA basketball odds have WVU as a three and a half point favorite. I just do not see a UConn team going 1-2 in Big East play to the hands of a freshman point guard and a smaller line-up. It will be a battle, but if AJ Price can step up his game and Thabeet doesn't run and hide, UConn should earn a very tough road win.
NBE Blogger Prediction:
Connecticut 70
West Virginia 65
This one will be worth watching!!!
Labels: 2008-2009 Game Previews
posted by NBE Blogger @ 1:10 PM
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