Allen plays his role, gets buckets
Bob Huggins knows a thing or two about statistics and motivation for that matter.
He flashed the knowledge prior to the game when he pulled freshman Teddy Allen to the side to impart some of that to him.
The veteran head coach informed Allen that West Virginia was 7-0 in the Big 12 when the Mountaineers had at least four guys in double figures.
Allen took that to heart. He wanted to be one of those.
For the first time since Feb. 12 at home against TCU, Allen found himself finishing with double-figures and scoring at a high rate around the rim.
A total of 16 points to be exact in the win over Murray State in the first round.
In the biggest game of the year, and make no mistake about it every game from here on out will meet that qualification, Allen gave the Mountaineers exactly what they needed. When West Virginia needed buckets, Teddy delivered with 23 minutes of good basketball. That's more minutes than all three games in the Big 12 Tournament.
It was the type of performance that made him the Big 12 newcomer of the week during a stretch where he scored 57 points in 59 minutes of play when the calendar first turned to league play.
Allen had only scored 23 combined points since that game against TCU where he scored 16 points, but was confident taking the ball to the rim finishing 5-8 from the floor while making 6-7 free throws. He even converted on three-point plays to give the Mountaineers a versatile weapon.
It wasn’t by accident; it was something the coaches had instructed him would be available.
“We knew that the way they guard screens one of the two would be open, so we had to exploit that,” Allen said.
But knowing it was there and finishing are two different things. Allen did both in a maturation step for a young player that has shown glimpses of what he can be on the offensive end of the floor.
“Coach is always telling us to keep our head on the rim and when you get fouled those are buckets you have to convert because those make a difference,” he said.
West Virginia has been here before with the ups and downs of a freshman but if Allen can give the Mountaineers productive minutes at that spot moving forward it only adds to what they can do on that end the floor. Baby steps, but perhaps Huggins can throw out some more stats?
“It’s important we spread it around,” Huggins said.
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube page for more WVU videos and photo slideshows: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=VideoGlide
