It's been an interesting season for West Virginia basketball. Bob Huggins has reinvented his coaching identity after missing the NCAA Tournament the last two years. West Virginia now uses a full court press the entire game and leads the nation in forcing turnovers. I think their style of play matches up well against Kansas State who rank 294th in the country in turnovers per possession. I am somewhat concerned because Huggins benched 3 players last game including top shooter Jaysean Paige for being in his doghouse. I don't know if Paige will play tonight but I think it hurts them if he doesn't considering how poor West Virginia has been shooting. I also think West Virginia has an advantage over teams who are dealing with their press for the first time. That is part of the reason I took the +9.5 with TCU last game against West Virginia as they had already played them once this year. This will be Kansas State's first game against WVU. West Virginia struggles on offense against teams who play zone because of their lack of shooting but according to Kenpom Kansas State plays mostly man defense which favors the Mountaineers. I think we are also dealing with some recency bias with Kansas State as they have looked good lately (although some of those wins have been very close) but have some bad losses on their resume There may be some travel issues for West Virginia though as they were forced to drive to Pittsburgh to catch their flight due to the snow but to me the match-up is too good to let travel issues dissuade me from recommending the Mountaineers. I also think West Virginia is in a good place mentally right now. They are coming off an incredible win in which two freshman (Miles and Carter) looked like seniors combining for the game winning play. Afterwards Dax Miles, while acknowledging he is freshman and should be seen and not heard, gave an impassioned speech extolling the virtues of practice and hard work that surely motivated his teammates. Finally I like where Juwan Staten's shot is at right now. Huggs said Wanny has been in the gym a lot lately and is shooting the ball better than he has in a long time. It will be a long night for Kansas State having to deal with Staten hitting jumpers on top of Pressvirginia's swarming defense.
OFFICIAL RECOMMENDATION: WEST VIRGINIA +1.5
1/27/2015 7:00:00 PM |
CBB Sides |
West Virginia |
Wildcats |
Mountaineers |
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1.5 (-110) |