-Bob Huggins started his post game press conference by saying West Virginia did a lot right in its 90-68 win over Texas Tech on Wednesday night. Huggins says he thought his team's pressure was really good because West Virginia had played with an extra bounce in its step. Huggins said energy was good early on, but West Virginia didn't close traps great early in the game. Huggins said West Virginia did a better job with traps later in the game, but Texas Tech was so rushed offensively, that they had a hard time getting good shots.
-Huggins said the thought process with his starting lineup tonight was that "study hall is important." Huggins used a starting five of Jevon Carter, Daxter Miles Jr., Nate Adrian, Esa Ahmad and Elijah Macon. He says the team has done a really good job of going to class and study hall all year long, but the team is at a point in the season with the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments that just because of the schedule it's easy to miss class and study hall since there are games to be played.
-Miles Jr. hit five three-pointers tonight and Huggins said that him and his staff have worked with Miles in the gym to correct a minor flaw in his shooting technique. Huggins says Miles' finish his shot well, but that Miles was taking the ball from one side of his head to the other and was start the shot on the wrong side of his body. Huggins says now Miles is starting his shot more consistently from the right side of his body.
-The win tonight for West Virginia guaranteed at worst the three-seed in the Big 12 tournament. A win on Saturday at Baylor will lock up the two-seed for West Virginia. Huggins says there isn't a ton of difference in being the two or three-seed other than that the three-seed likely will have to beat three-ranked opponents in order to win the tournament. Huggins says the two-seed would only have to probably beat two-ranked opponents to win it.
-Huggins says some of the adversity West Virginia faced throughout the season - Jon Holton's suspension, Miles' injury, Jaysean Paige's injury at Texas, Ahmad's injury earlier in the year - has helped prepared the team for the tournaments. Huggins said in a sick kind of way, West Virginia actually benefited from Holton's suspension because Adrian earned more playing time and played well, resulting in added confidence. Because of injuries at guard, Huggins thought Tarik Phillip became more assertive while scoring the ball. He said overall, it just helped the team a great to play without certain pieces in case during either of the tournaments West Virginia has to deal with the absence of a key player, if an injury were to occur.
-Texas Tech head coach Tubby Smith summed up the game in one sentence during the opening remarks of his press conference: "I thought we were just manhandled tonight."
-If West Virginia is the two-seed, Huggins and company would likely meet Texas Tech (already locked in as the seven-seed) if the Red Raiders beat TCU in the first round of the Big 12 tournament. Smith said during his team's loss tonight they were taught a lesson in toughness and being physical. Smith said Texas Tech just did a poor job with fundamentals on offense and rebounding.
-Smith was asked about West Virginia's second strong and if an opposing coach has to adjust his team to that and he said, honestly there isn't anything you can do because West Virginia is deep. Smith said Texas Tech has a strong bench, but with West Virginia's style of play that because they press and run the court, it's hard to do anything to counter depth.
-Miles spoke more at length at his adjustments after score all 15 points on threes. Miles said that he's been in the gym with Huggins and that once he was able to understand what Huggins meant of starting the shot on the wrong side of the body, he was able to start to correct the mistake.
-Going forward, Miles thinks West Virginia can do some special things if both him and Nate Adrian continue to shoot the ball consistently from beyond the arc. Miles says he understands the importance of giving the team an extra perimeter threat and the value it brings.
-I asked Miles, how far in both tournaments the team could go and he told me that knowing everyone involved for West Virginia, he thinks the team can go far. He says the difference in a deep run and early exit for West Virginia comes down to energy and the press. Miles believes if West Virginia keeps its energy than the press will work, if energy isn't there then the team will struggle.
-I talked to Adrian also, who also had to work the mechanics of his shot to find success this season. Earlier this week on the Big 12 teleconference, Huggins told me that Adrian worked hard to fix his shot in order to shoot better than 50-percent from three during Big 12 play. Adrian walked me through his issues and said that he wasn't have his wrist cocked back enough at the start of his shot. He said Huggins worked with him repeatedly to make the correction. Adrian admitted that the change wasn't easy, especially during the season but that his extra effort has paid off.
-Adrian also had a funny moment in post game when another reporter asked him, in reference to his dunk tonight against Texas Tech, how many baseline dunks he had in his career. Adrian responded by saying: "In college, just one," meaning the dunk he had tonight.
-Macon earned the second start of his career tonight and said that he learned he would start tonight, literally during shoot around, so he didn't have much time to think about it. He said he was excited to get the start and tried to make the most of it. Macon finished the game with eight points and two rebounds.
-Macon said he was comfortable starting, so it doesn't matter whether he starts or comes off the bench. He did admit that it was a little easier to get the flow of tonight's game just because he got some chances at the rim, early in the game.
-At this point, Macon says it's all about focusing on Baylor, so West Virginia can lock up the two-seed in the conference tournament. Macon thinks West Virginia is peaking at the right time because the team is healthy. He says as a group, guys are talking about how much the Baylor game means because a two-seed can propel West Virginia into some wins during the Big 12 tournament and inevitably give the team a better seed for the NCAA tournament.
-Paige echoed Macon's thoughts about the team peaking at the right time. Paige said that the team is really gelling well and that it's starting to coincide with both Adrian and Miles making shots. Paige believes with both guys making shots it adds to an already pretty tough group of scorers with himself, Phillip and Devin Williams.
-As far as senior night, Paige said it was tough to put into words how much going out with a win meant to him. Paige said he thought about all the practices and hard work he put into this season and the last two years during the senior ceremonies. He said that's what made him so emotional. Even though he said it was a little challenging to handle flipping his emotions off in order to play, he said he thought he did a good job of it.
-Huggins said the thought process with his starting lineup tonight was that "study hall is important." Huggins used a starting five of Jevon Carter, Daxter Miles Jr., Nate Adrian, Esa Ahmad and Elijah Macon. He says the team has done a really good job of going to class and study hall all year long, but the team is at a point in the season with the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments that just because of the schedule it's easy to miss class and study hall since there are games to be played.
-Miles Jr. hit five three-pointers tonight and Huggins said that him and his staff have worked with Miles in the gym to correct a minor flaw in his shooting technique. Huggins says Miles' finish his shot well, but that Miles was taking the ball from one side of his head to the other and was start the shot on the wrong side of his body. Huggins says now Miles is starting his shot more consistently from the right side of his body.
-The win tonight for West Virginia guaranteed at worst the three-seed in the Big 12 tournament. A win on Saturday at Baylor will lock up the two-seed for West Virginia. Huggins says there isn't a ton of difference in being the two or three-seed other than that the three-seed likely will have to beat three-ranked opponents in order to win the tournament. Huggins says the two-seed would only have to probably beat two-ranked opponents to win it.
-Huggins says some of the adversity West Virginia faced throughout the season - Jon Holton's suspension, Miles' injury, Jaysean Paige's injury at Texas, Ahmad's injury earlier in the year - has helped prepared the team for the tournaments. Huggins said in a sick kind of way, West Virginia actually benefited from Holton's suspension because Adrian earned more playing time and played well, resulting in added confidence. Because of injuries at guard, Huggins thought Tarik Phillip became more assertive while scoring the ball. He said overall, it just helped the team a great to play without certain pieces in case during either of the tournaments West Virginia has to deal with the absence of a key player, if an injury were to occur.
-Texas Tech head coach Tubby Smith summed up the game in one sentence during the opening remarks of his press conference: "I thought we were just manhandled tonight."
-If West Virginia is the two-seed, Huggins and company would likely meet Texas Tech (already locked in as the seven-seed) if the Red Raiders beat TCU in the first round of the Big 12 tournament. Smith said during his team's loss tonight they were taught a lesson in toughness and being physical. Smith said Texas Tech just did a poor job with fundamentals on offense and rebounding.
-Smith was asked about West Virginia's second strong and if an opposing coach has to adjust his team to that and he said, honestly there isn't anything you can do because West Virginia is deep. Smith said Texas Tech has a strong bench, but with West Virginia's style of play that because they press and run the court, it's hard to do anything to counter depth.
-Miles spoke more at length at his adjustments after score all 15 points on threes. Miles said that he's been in the gym with Huggins and that once he was able to understand what Huggins meant of starting the shot on the wrong side of the body, he was able to start to correct the mistake.
-Going forward, Miles thinks West Virginia can do some special things if both him and Nate Adrian continue to shoot the ball consistently from beyond the arc. Miles says he understands the importance of giving the team an extra perimeter threat and the value it brings.
-I asked Miles, how far in both tournaments the team could go and he told me that knowing everyone involved for West Virginia, he thinks the team can go far. He says the difference in a deep run and early exit for West Virginia comes down to energy and the press. Miles believes if West Virginia keeps its energy than the press will work, if energy isn't there then the team will struggle.
-I talked to Adrian also, who also had to work the mechanics of his shot to find success this season. Earlier this week on the Big 12 teleconference, Huggins told me that Adrian worked hard to fix his shot in order to shoot better than 50-percent from three during Big 12 play. Adrian walked me through his issues and said that he wasn't have his wrist cocked back enough at the start of his shot. He said Huggins worked with him repeatedly to make the correction. Adrian admitted that the change wasn't easy, especially during the season but that his extra effort has paid off.
-Adrian also had a funny moment in post game when another reporter asked him, in reference to his dunk tonight against Texas Tech, how many baseline dunks he had in his career. Adrian responded by saying: "In college, just one," meaning the dunk he had tonight.
-Macon earned the second start of his career tonight and said that he learned he would start tonight, literally during shoot around, so he didn't have much time to think about it. He said he was excited to get the start and tried to make the most of it. Macon finished the game with eight points and two rebounds.
-Macon said he was comfortable starting, so it doesn't matter whether he starts or comes off the bench. He did admit that it was a little easier to get the flow of tonight's game just because he got some chances at the rim, early in the game.
-At this point, Macon says it's all about focusing on Baylor, so West Virginia can lock up the two-seed in the conference tournament. Macon thinks West Virginia is peaking at the right time because the team is healthy. He says as a group, guys are talking about how much the Baylor game means because a two-seed can propel West Virginia into some wins during the Big 12 tournament and inevitably give the team a better seed for the NCAA tournament.
-Paige echoed Macon's thoughts about the team peaking at the right time. Paige said that the team is really gelling well and that it's starting to coincide with both Adrian and Miles making shots. Paige believes with both guys making shots it adds to an already pretty tough group of scorers with himself, Phillip and Devin Williams.
-As far as senior night, Paige said it was tough to put into words how much going out with a win meant to him. Paige said he thought about all the practices and hard work he put into this season and the last two years during the senior ceremonies. He said that's what made him so emotional. Even though he said it was a little challenging to handle flipping his emotions off in order to play, he said he thought he did a good job of it.
