Associated Press
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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.
