WVU looking to get back on track at No. 3 Syracuse
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - What happened to West Virginia's basketball team Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden was a complete surprise to Bob Huggins. While he knew the Mountaineers were capable of a poor performance, he just didn't see a 78-62 thrashing at the hands of St. John's coming.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - What happened to West Virginia's basketball team Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden was a complete surprise to Bob Huggins. While he knew the Mountaineers were capable of a poor performance, he just didn't see a 78-62 thrashing at the hands of St. John's coming.
Then again, with his team depending upon so many freshmen - five among the top eight players - as the season goes along, he's finding out more and more each day.
And some of it he doesn't like.
"You get so many young guys and I think the season seems longer for them than it really is,'' Huggins said. "But now we're looking forward to playing Syracuse. At least I hope we are. I am, anyway.''
His team had better share that attitude, of course, because Syracuse is a lot better than the St. John's team that just routed the Mountaineers.
The Orange (21-1, 8-1 Big East), ranked No. 3 in the country now after a six-week run at No. 1, hosts West Virginia (15-6, 5-3) at 1 p.m. today at the Carrier Dome. The game will be televised by ESPNU.
"We've got to get a lot better in a short period of time, or it will be a long [game] for us on Saturday,'' Huggins said.
Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, most of their games at the Carrier Dome are long ones. West Virginia can boast of one of its biggest victories ever at the arena, but it wasn't against the Orange. The Mountaineers outlasted Kentucky there in 2010 for a berth in that season's Final Four, after beating Washington two nights earlier.
Aside from those two wins, West Virginia is just 1-10 in the building - 1-9 against Syracuse and a loss to Western Kentucky in the 1987 NCAA tournament.
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WVU looking to get back on track at No. 3 Syracuse
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - What happened to West Virginia's basketball team Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden was a complete surprise to Bob Huggins. While he knew the Mountaineers were capable of a poor performance, he just didn't see a 78-62 thrashing at the hands of St. John's coming.
Then again, with his team depending upon so many freshmen - five among the top eight players - as the season goes along, he's finding out more and more each day.
And some of it he doesn't like.
"You get so many young guys and I think the season seems longer for them than it really is,'' Huggins said. "But now we're looking forward to playing Syracuse. At least I hope we are. I am, anyway.''
His team had better share that attitude, of course, because Syracuse is a lot better than the St. John's team that just routed the Mountaineers.
The Orange (21-1, 8-1 Big East), ranked No. 3 in the country now after a six-week run at No. 1, hosts West Virginia (15-6, 5-3) at 1 p.m. today at the Carrier Dome. The game will be televised by ESPNU.
"We've got to get a lot better in a short period of time, or it will be a long [game] for us on Saturday,'' Huggins said.
Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, most of their games at the Carrier Dome are long ones. West Virginia can boast of one of its biggest victories ever at the arena, but it wasn't against the Orange. The Mountaineers outlasted Kentucky there in 2010 for a berth in that season's Final Four, after beating Washington two nights earlier.
Aside from those two wins, West Virginia is just 1-10 in the building - 1-9 against Syracuse and a loss to Western Kentucky in the 1987 NCAA tournament.
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. - What happened to West Virginia's basketball team Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden was a complete surprise to Bob Huggins. While he knew the Mountaineers were capable of a poor performance, he just didn't see a 78-62 thrashing at the hands of St. John's coming.
Then again, with his team depending upon so many freshmen - five among the top eight players - as the season goes along, he's finding out more and more each day.
And some of it he doesn't like.
"You get so many young guys and I think the season seems longer for them than it really is,'' Huggins said. "But now we're looking forward to playing Syracuse. At least I hope we are. I am, anyway.''
His team had better share that attitude, of course, because Syracuse is a lot better than the St. John's team that just routed the Mountaineers.
The Orange (21-1, 8-1 Big East), ranked No. 3 in the country now after a six-week run at No. 1, hosts West Virginia (15-6, 5-3) at 1 p.m. today at the Carrier Dome. The game will be televised by ESPNU.
"We've got to get a lot better in a short period of time, or it will be a long [game] for us on Saturday,'' Huggins said.
Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, most of their games at the Carrier Dome are long ones. West Virginia can boast of one of its biggest victories ever at the arena, but it wasn't against the Orange. The Mountaineers outlasted Kentucky there in 2010 for a berth in that season's Final Four, after beating Washington two nights earlier.
Aside from those two wins, West Virginia is just 1-10 in the building - 1-9 against Syracuse and a loss to Western Kentucky in the 1987 NCAA tournament.
The truth is, though, WVU hasn't had much recent success against Syracuse no matter the location. WVU has lost four in a row to the Orange, eight of the last nine, and none of the current Mountaineers have ever been part of a win over Syracuse.
And to have a chance today, the Mountaineers have to play a lot better than they did Wednesday night against St. John's, which, despite starting five freshmen, dominated WVU in almost every phase.
"Maybe we've been worse before,'' Huggins said. "But I can't remember when we were worse defensively. They just did whatever they wanted to do.''
Against Syracuse, West Virginia could catch a bit of a break if center Fab Melo remains sidelined. The 7-foot sophomore has missed SU's last two games - including the only loss of the season a week ago at Notre Dame - because of what the school terms "unresolved academic issues.'' Melo is still practicing with the team and his return could come at any time, or not at all this season.
Melo's statistics are not eye-popping - 7.2 points, 5.7 rebounds - but he is one of the best shot blockers in the country and an anchor in the middle of the Orange's famed 2-3 zone defense.
It's that defense that worries Huggins because Syracuse has used it to lead the nation in steals and in turnover margin.
"They score so much off their defense, that it's like they're constantly running downhill at you,'' Huggins said. "We're going to have to do a much better job of ball security than what we did last game.''
And after West Virginia finishes with the Orange, there is no time to rest and recover. For the fifth time this season, the Mountaineers will play a game with only one day's rest, hosting Pitt Monday at the Coliseum in a Big Monday game on ESPN.
This article is available only to our premium digital content subscribers.
WVU looking to get back on track at No. 3 Syracuse
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - What happened to West Virginia's basketball team Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden was a complete surprise to Bob Huggins. While he knew the Mountaineers were capable of a poor performance, he just didn't see a 78-62 thrashing at the hands of St. John's coming.
Then again, with his team depending upon so many freshmen - five among the top eight players - as the season goes along, he's finding out more and more each day.
And some of it he doesn't like.
"You get so many young guys and I think the season seems longer for them than it really is,'' Huggins said. "But now we're looking forward to playing Syracuse. At least I hope we are. I am, anyway.''
His team had better share that attitude, of course, because Syracuse is a lot better than the St. John's team that just routed the Mountaineers.
The Orange (21-1, 8-1 Big East), ranked No. 3 in the country now after a six-week run at No. 1, hosts West Virginia (15-6, 5-3) at 1 p.m. today at the Carrier Dome. The game will be televised by ESPNU.
"We've got to get a lot better in a short period of time, or it will be a long [game] for us on Saturday,'' Huggins said.
Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, most of their games at the Carrier Dome are long ones. West Virginia can boast of one of its biggest victories ever at the arena, but it wasn't against the Orange. The Mountaineers outlasted Kentucky there in 2010 for a berth in that season's Final Four, after beating Washington two nights earlier.
Aside from those two wins, West Virginia is just 1-10 in the building - 1-9 against Syracuse and a loss to Western Kentucky in the 1987 NCAA tournament.
