West Virginia 76, Ohio State 48 (Final)

[HoltWVU75]

Welp, the game is next saturday....ive been looking forward to this game since they announced it....What are your thoughts on the game? Any key injuries for the buckeyes?

As far us...senior Guard Alex Ruoff is the heart and soul of the team....he missed a few games and that really hurt our scoring....however, he was able to play yesterday against Miami OH, and did real good....Jr PG Joe Mazzulla has been hurt and will more than likely, still be out for next weekends game...Hes a tough, hard nosed guard that plays great defense....Frosh PG Darryl "Truck" Bryant has filled in very nicely for Joe....

Our starting 5 will look something like this....
G--Bryant
G--Ruoff
F--John Flowers
F--DeSean Butler ( our best player)
F--Wellington Smith

Bench guys that will get plenty of PT...Devin Ebanks (may start, if not, will play plenty of minutes off the bench), Cam Thoroughman, Kevin Jones

Rebounding has been the biggest plus for us this year....we're a pretty good rebounding team....

If the game was in Morgantown, I would feel a lot better about it....I look for OSU to win a close battle....

[billmac91]

Our starting 4, David Lighty (who is an athletic 6'6 wing), has a broken ankle. His loss hurts us defensively more than offensively.

We are a pressing team, and we run a variation of the 2-2-1 trap press especially well with Lighty. We still run it, but losing his athleticism hurts the amount of pressure we can put on, b/c we don't have a player that can fly around the court in the press at the 4, but also defend 4's and 5's in the post like Lighty could.

He is replaced in the starting 5 by a 7 foot freshmen BJ Mullens, whom pre-season, was considered a top 5 draft pick. He has been steadily improving and is becoming a very strong presence in the post offensively and defensively. Our style changes considerably with him in the starting 5, as we can't press nearly as effectively. We are much more of a half-court team that pounds it out with Mullens and Dallas Lauderdale on the court together.

Jon Diebler is a SG that has a pure stroke, and our SF Evan Turner is averaging 18 a game. Turner actually leads the team in assits per game, scoring per game, and rebounds per game. Turner is our go to guy on offense.

It should be a good one.

Not having your PG really seemed to hurt against Davidson.

[HoltWVU75]

yea Mazzulla and Ruoff were both out for Davidson....we played a pretty good game until Curry got hot at the end....

[PtownBuckeye]

What happend to Ebanks in the Miami(OH) game? I was at my brother's highschool game so I could only see the boxscore...Did he get injured?

[LitlBuck]

I have only seen West Virginia play once this year and like all Bob Huggins teams they seem to be very physical which could create some problems for our young guys. We will defend the perimeter fairly well so your outside again does not concern me as much as your inside game and your put backs on offensive rebounds. We are not a very good defensive rebounding team

[HoltWVU75]

Originally Posted by PtownBuckeye

What happend to Ebanks in the Miami(OH) game? I was at my brother's highschool game so I could only see the boxscore...Did he get injured?

He twisted his ankle in practice last week....he played the first half, but since we were up by a gazillion most of the game, Huggs sat him in the 2nd half....no need to risk further injury....

[Buckeyebb]

I think that this is going to be a pretty tough game for both teams and i really hope it does not come down to who is injured and who is not as to who wins this game but good luck to both teams!

[jimotis4heisman]

major key to the game: the team who scores more points will win this game...

[Best Buckeye]

How about a vbet on this game and the Lady Bucks game.
please and thank you.

[matcar]

Originally Posted by jimotis4heisman

major key to the game: the team who scores more points will win this game...

In which half?

[TimTaylor75]

WVA streaming on Watch Online tv sports news and entertainment for free at channelsurfing

WVA struggling over Radford, leading 27-22. Radford with 8 turnovers / WVA with 6 with 4 minutes left in the 1st half. Both teams pretty much just chucking 3s.

[TimTaylor75]

WVA up 37-24 at the half

WVA has made 6-3 pointers (5 coming from one player)

If they play like this against us Saturday, it's going to be a long game for the Mountaineers. They won't be able to get the looks they're getting tonight against our zone and they won't have an answer for Turner or our bigs.

[bkochmc]

Pomeroy Rankings as of 12/22:
Ohio State: 14
West Virginia: 8


Pomeroy Game Prediction:
Score: Ohio State 59, West Virginia 56
Pace: 65 possessions
OSU chance of winning: 60%


Ohio State Stats (rankings in parentheses):
Strength of Schedule: 213 (UNCA killed this ranking... WVU will bring it back up)
Avg. Number of Possessions: 65.3 (258)
Offensive Efficiency (points scored per 100 possessions): 108.4 (67)
Defensive Efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions): 81.3 (6)
"The Dallas" Defensive Block Percentage: 22.0 (2)

[HoltWVU75]

Ruoff has finally awaken.....had 38 points last night with nine 3 pointers....

I didnt get to see the game, I was at a Christmas Party, but i noticed it was pretty even in the first half....but we romped in the 2nd....

[LitlBuck]

I didnt get to see the game, I was at a Christmas Party

I mean where are your priorities I thought you were a Mountaineer fan. It should be a good game come Saturday and I am just thankful that we are playing it in our house because you boys can get pretty rowdy down there.