West Virginia faces tough task at Notre Dame

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February 22, 2012

Staff reports Bluefield Daily Telegraph The Bluefield Daily Telegraph Wed Feb 22, 2012, 04:58 AM EST

MORGANTOWN — The time is now for West Virginia to get back on track with the Mountaineers falling ever so close to the NCAA tournament bubble.

West Virginia (17-10, 7-7) does have one of the nation’s toughest schedules — ranked seventh by realtime.rpi — but the Mountaineers are just 2-5 in their last seven games, including a 55-51 home loss to Notre Dame on Feb. 8. They have fallen to 40th in the all-important RPI ratings.

The Mountaineers hope to get back on track tonight when they travel to Notre Dame to play the No. 20 Fighting Irish (19-8, 11-3), who have won eight in a row to pull themselves into a second place tie with Marquette behind Syracuse in the Big East.

Freshman Jabarie Hinds led West Virginia, which is currently in eighth place, with 17 points in the first meeting, which saw the Mountaineers score just 16 first half points. Notre Dame was led by Jack Cooley, who had 21 points and 10 rebounds in that game.

Cooley has at least 18 points in his last four games, including 18 points and 13 boards in the Irish’s comeback win over Villanova on Saturday.

“We were awful the first half,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, on msnsportsnet.com. “We just had a spell where we didn’t play very well offensively. And then really we did a pretty good job in the second half to get back into the game and then they made some big shots — we didn’t and they did...

“They’re playing really well. That was a heck of a comeback in the Villanova game.”

West Virginia is coming off a stellar 66-48 road win at Pittsburgh, with Kevin Jones recording 16 points and 13 boards to help snap a two-game losing skid.

The Mountaineers, who still have regular season meetings left with Marquette, DePaul and South Florida, have lost 10 straight at Purcell Pavilion, winning just three times at Notre Dame, in 1996, 1987 and 1972.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised by ESPN2.

In other college basketball on Wednesday. Bluefield College’s Lady Rams (19-9) will host Milligan (17-13) in the opening round of the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.

Bluefield has beaten the Buffaloes twice this season, 65-50 and 68-58.

The winner will play either Union or Reinhardt on Friday.

In addition, Bluefield State will host Senior Night with a doubleheader against Ohio Valley. Devontae Royal will play his final home game for the Big Blues, while the Lady Blues will bid adieu to Princeton product Kelly Pawlowski and Keyoshia Wright.

Royal and the Big Blues (1-23, 0-20) will attempt to snap a 22-game losing skid against the Scots (7-16, 7-13). The Lady Blues (6-20, 5-14), who have won two of three after losing 11 straight, will meet the Scots, who are 11-15, and 7-13 in the WVIAC.

Concord still has plenty to play for on both sides of the ledger. The Lady Lions (18-6, 15-5) can still win the regular season title with West Virginia Wesleyan and Glenville State also in the running. Concord will play Charleston (12-12, 10-8) tonight and host Bluefield State on Saturday.

The Concord men (14-10, 11-9) could still secure a first round home tournament berth, but Charleston, which is 20-5 and 15-4 in the WVIAC, stands in the way.

The Cougars are currently in second place, behind West Liberty, which recently clinched its third straight league crown.

Concord will close out the regular season on Saturday against Bluefield State.

In other regional college basketball, Marshall (16-10, 7-5) will host Houston (12-13, 4-8) with seeding at stake in the Conference USA tournament. The Thundering Herd started the season 13-4, but are just 3-6 since then.

Marshall, which is led by DeAndre Kane (15.8 ppg, 5.7 reb), Damier Pitts (14.3 ppg) and Dennis Tinnon (9.2 ppg, 9.8 reb, will almost certainly have to win the Conference USA tournament, slated for March 7-10 in Memphis, Tenn., to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1987.

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West Virginia faces tough task at Notre Dame

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