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
-
-
Allegany turns back BW, 62-52
Tylor Jessie is the only senior on the Allegany team but it would’ve been next to impossible to know it without a program at Friday night’s City League basketball game.
-
Coleman helps Keyser beat Alco
Despite not scoring in the second quarter, Keyser entered halftime with a six-point lead over Allegany and pulled away in the second half to hand the Campers their fifth consecutive loss, 55-38, Friday night in Appalachian Mountain Athletic Conference action.
-
Wolfe sparks FH over Ridge, 69-47
Fort Hill outscored Mountain Ridge 25-11 during the third quarter, blowing open a tight contest, as the area’s No. 1 team won for the seventh straight time by beating the visiting Miners 69-47 Friday in South Cumberland.
-
Georgetown meets with Chinese team after brawl
The Chinese team that got into a nasty brawl with Georgetown University players in an exhibition game went to the Beijing airport Friday to reconcile with them.
-
Basketball camp winners
-
NBA files suit against locked-out players
With locked-out NBA players threatening to file an antitrust lawsuit, the league beat them to court.
The league filed two legal claims on Tuesday against the NBA Players Association, an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board and a lawsuit in federal district court in New York. -
Mavs aim to take tighter defense to Oklahoma City
Take a sweep of the Lakers, a nine-day layoff and a dominant outing by Dirk Nowitzki in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, and it’s understandable why the Dallas Mavericks may have started thinking too highly of themselves.
-
Chicago off to 1st conference final since ’98
Turns out, the Chicago Bulls are more than just a one-man team.
Derrick Rose sure had plenty of help in this one. -
Wes Washington voted Player of the Year
Wes Washington, whose versatile and unselfish play led Keyser to its most successful season in more than 40 years, was voted the Cumberland Times-News boys basketball Player of the Year by area head coaches.
-
Big 3 battle? Not yet, with Wade and James rolling
Over the past 20 postseasons, no one has averaged more points against the Boston Celtics than Dwyane Wade, and no one has a bigger scoring total against them than LeBron James.
- More Basketball Headlines
-
