During the 2009-2010 season, West Virginia fans got a taste of a memorable Final Four run.
If it wasn’t for an unfortunate injury to star Da’Sean Butler, the Mountaineers may have been singing Country Roads all the way to the national title. West Virginia ultimately lost the game, leaving Mountaineer fans craving more.
Six years later, Bob Huggins has his team primed and ready to make another run leaving West Virginia fans on the edge every game. The Mountaineers who are 19-4 (8-2) are all alone in first place, in the toughest conference in the country. There is plenty of season left to be played including a matchup with No. 7 Kansas inside Allen Field House, and a talented Oklahoma squad coming to Morgantown.
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This is a year in college basketball with no clear favorites, and the perennial powers are down, or very beatable. West Virginia does something many other teams don’t, they play as a complete unit. Most teams in the country are centered around one, maybe two guys. The Mountaineers play as a complete unit, which will surely wear some teams down come March. Big 12 teams have to play West Virginia twice a year, and still aren’t used to the 40 minutes of full court pressure.
Last year in the NCAA Tournament, West Virginia was able to dismantle a very good Maryland squad, knocking star Melo Trimble off of his game. This year’s team is much better, and looking to finish what they left on the table last year. The Mountaineers gained two huge wins this past week by knocking off Iowa State and Baylor. West Virginia went a combined 0-5 against those two teams last year, while sitting 2-0 against them this year. That shows how much this team has grown and fixed what was missing last season.
Four out of five starters have improved their shooting percentage over 10% from last year. That statistic tells a tale all by itself. Last year WVU relied heavily on second chance opportunities, put back shots were key. This year, even if the full court press breaks, West Virginia can shoot with the best of them.
This team is all around one of the best in the country, if not the best. They can play with best of them, and they can pinpoint their losses back to themselves. West Virginia didn’t get beat in any of their games, they simply played awful basketball. The only thing West Virginia lacks in free throw shooting, if they can fix that, they can very well bring a NCAA basketball title home to Morgantown. West Virginia has unfinished business, which makes them a scary matchup for anyone.