BUFFALO, N.Y. — As if the bitter memories of West Virginia’s abrupt exit in last year’s NCAA tournament weren’t motivation enough for Da’Sean Butler.
There’s suddenly added incentive spurring the Mountaineers’ star senior guard, who feels slighted after West Virginia was awarded a lower-than-expected No. 2 seed entering this year’s tournament. That left Butler wondering Thursday whether being the Big East Conference champion carried much respect any more.
“None,” Butler said, shaking his head.
And that’s fine with the Mountaineers (27-6), who can start proving they deserved better on Friday against two-time Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion Morgan State (27-9).
“You’ve got to play the cards you’re dealt, so we’ll play,” Butler said. “And we’re putting (the bulls-eye) on every team we’re playing against.”
The Bears are no pushovers. They’re led by senior guard Reggie Holmes, whose 784 points this season rank second in the nation, and feature a powerful inside presence in Kevin Thompson, whose 11.9 rebounds rank fourth in the nation.
Matchup aside, don’t expect the Mountaineers to overlook anyone. They learned that lesson the hard way after opening last year’s tournament with a 68-60 overtime loss to Dayton.
“Pay attention to what’s in front of you as opposed to looking down the road,” Butler said. “We’re not going to take this for granted.”
Coach Bob Huggins hasn’t brought up the loss, saying he doesn’t deal with the past. But Huggins figured he didn’t need to because he can see a difference in his players’ approach this past offseason.
“The biggest thing to happen to them is they’re all about 20 to 30 pounds stronger,” Huggins said, noting many of his players spent much of the summer working out in Morgantown, W.V. “They did that willingly. They were excited about it. They were excited about this year, I think, from the minute last year ended.”
West Virginia’s trio of sophomores — forwards Devin Ebanks and Kevin Jones and guard Darryl Bryant — are playing more consistently than last year. Jones is averaging 13.5 points and 7.1 rebounds, while Ebanks is averaging 11.8 points and 8.2 rebounds.
Then there’s Butler, whose clutch shooting helped the Mountaineers win their first Big East title and register 27 wins for only the third time in school history. He has scored six game-winning shots this season, including a running jumper with 4 seconds left to secure a 60-58 win over Georgetown in the Big East tournament final on Saturday.
Basketball
Related Photos
-
West Virginia's Devin Ebanks shoots during NCAA college basketball practice in Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday. West Virginia plays Morgan State in a first-round game today at noon. Associated Press
WVU is motivated to prove it should have been a No. 1
Mountaineers play Morgan State at noon
- Basketball
-
-
Philadelphia forces Game 7
Jrue Holiday scored 20 points, and Elton Brand had 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead the tough-and-determined Philadelphia 76ers past the Celtics, 82-75 on Wednesday night to send the Eastern Conference semifinals back to Boston for Game 7.
-
NBA suspends Haslem for one game, Pittman for three
Udonis Haslem insists he meant no harm. The NBA deemed otherwise, and the Miami Heat will be without one of their co-captains when they try to close out the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night.
-
Boston takes series lead behind Bass’ 27-point outburst
Brandon Bass scored 18 of his postseason career-high 27 points in the third quarter on Monday night as the Boston Celtics pulled away from the Philadelphia 76ers to win 101-85 and take a 3-2 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
-
76ers rally, knot series
Andre Iguodala snapped a tie game with five straight points in the final 90 seconds to help the Philadelphia 76ers storm back from 15 points down and stun the Boston Celtics 92-83 on Friday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
-
Celtics top 76ers 107-91 in Game 3
Kevin Garnett scored 27 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and used a dominant second quarter to help the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 107-91 on Wednesday night and take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
-
76ers even series with Celtics, 82-81
Evan Turner made the go-ahead layup with 40.4 seconds left and Philadelphia held off Boston the rest of the way with six straight free throws as the 76ers evened the second-round Eastern Conference series with an 82-81 victory Monday night.
-
James wins 3rd NBA MVP award
Heat forward LeBron James is the NBA’s MVP for a third time, putting him alongside some of the game’s all-time greats.
-
Knicks’ postseason slide hits 12
Dwyane Wade scored 25 points, Chris Bosh added 21 and Miami beat New York 104-94 on Monday night, sending the Knicks to an NBA-record-tying 12th straight postseason loss.
-
Ritchie voted player of year
D.J. Ritchie, who did just about everything the last three seasons for Southern Garrett and capped his high school career with likely his finest performance, was voted the Cumberland Times-News Boys Basketball Player of the Year by area head coaches.
-
Wizards streak into offseason
Playing without their Big Three, the Miami Heat suffered their worst defeat of the season with a 104-70 loss to the Washington Wizards in the regular-season finale Thursday night.
- More Basketball Headlines
-
