http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png
Bob Huggins took Cincinnati’s basketball team to the top of the polls several times in his 16 seasons as head coach of the Bearcats.
“The first time we were No. 1 in the country at Cincinnati,” said Huggins, who last week had his 11th West Virginia team at No. 2 in the Associated Press poll, “one of my friends called and said, ‘Never forget: The dog with the bone is always in danger.’ I tell our guys that all the time. We’re going to have the bull’s-eye on our back.”
The Mountaineers (15-2, 4-1), who could drop a slot or two following Saturday’s 72-71 loss at No. 8 Texas Tech (15-2, 4-1), ascended to their highest poll position since a No. 2 ranking on Dec. 29, 1959 — in Hall of Famer Jerry West’s senior season.
“That’s what you play for. You work like crazy to get to the point where everybody is excited about playing you,” Huggins said. His Mountaineers will meet No. 12 Kansas (14-3, 4-1) at 8 p.m. Monday in a marquee Big Monday battle at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, W.Va.
“When we came in the league (for the 2012-13 season) I don’t think anybody really even knew who we were. The way we played early on, they didn’t need to, really,” Huggins added. His first two teams placed eighth and sixth in the Big 12 before claiming one third place and two seconds. “I think it’s easier to get there than it is to stay there. It’s hard to stay there. That’s why you admire what Bill (Self) has done at Kansas for all these years because they not only got there but stayed there.”
KU coach Self certainly is not surprised at West Virginia’s reemergence as a national power. Self picked the Mountaineers to finish first in the league in the 2017-18 preseason coaches poll. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own teams.
“I’d say based on who they have returning and also you know as long as ‘Huggs’ is there, they will be be good,” Self said in explaining his vote.
Since the start of the season, Self said he’s “watched them, and they definitely have caught everyone’s attention across America in what Huggs’ group has done.”
The Mountaineers dropped their opener to Texas A&M, 88-65, on Nov. 10 in Germany, then rattled off 15 straight wins before Saturday’s setback at Texas Tech. Currently, KU, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Texas Tech top the Big 12 standings at 4-1.
“I think they certainly are deserving of their national ranking. It’s great for them and it’s good for our league. They have our respect,” Self said. “We have not really performed very well in Morgantown, not just in recent memory, but I guess the last five years or so. We’ll look forward to going there.”
KU, since defeating West Virginia in Morgantown in the Mountaineers’ first year in the league, has dropped four straight at WVU Coliseum. The Jayhawks lost by six, one and 11 points before losing by 16 a year ago.
“West Virginia is a tough team to prepare for regardless of the situation,” Self said. “With 30 minutes of practice (Sunday), it’s not a lot of time for preparation in what they throw at you. We will have to go be very physically tough and mentally tough.”
The Mountaineers, spurred by their home fans, tend to press the entire game, which normally leads to lots of turnovers.
“He (Daxter Miles, 28 steals) and Carter (Jevon, 61 steals) are the two toughest guards physically without question not only in our league maybe nationally,” Self said of the senior standouts. Miles is from Baltimore and Carter from Maywood, Ill.
“They come at you. They don’t back off. Jevon probably get’s the lion’s share of the credit between those two,” Self added. “I would think that Bob and Jevon would be the first ones to say that Daxter makes it possible. They complement each other so well. The thing is he (Miles) has become through the years a more consistent offensive threat. The tenacity is what impresses me the most about those guards.”
Carter and Miles are the team’s leading scorers at 16.8 and 13.2 points per game, respectively. Starter Lamont West and key reserve James Bolden average 12.3 and 9.8, respectively, for a team putting up 82.1 points a game and allowing 65.4. KU averages 85.8 and allows 70.2.
The man who runs the show, Huggins, now in his 36th year as a coach, is a candidate for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s class of 2018.
“I think when you’ve won as many games as Huggs (834 against 331 losses) I think probably you’ve had good players all throughout,” Self said.
“I think that recruiting Carter and Miles in the same class was probably something he’ll look back and say, ‘You know what, we recruited 110, 115, 120 wins (currently 94) with these two guys when we signed them.’ I know they were highly recruited, but probably weren’t as heralded as a lot of guys out there. I think that speaks volumes how they coach ’em up.”
http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.pngfrom Sports - Google News http://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/big-12/university-of-kansas/article194673054.html
#sport #nba #nfl #usa #base #ball
