WVU does exactly what it needs to do to advance

It wasn’t always pretty but West Virginia did what it needed to do to get past Bucknell 86-80 and move on to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

At this point that’s what this Mountaineers outfit has become. It isn’t perfect basketball but it’s effective and it’s inbred in the identity of head coach Bob Huggins club. There isn’t necessarily a superstar on this team, but West Virginia banks on its deep rotation of players being better than the opposition.

That was the case against the Bison was the bench outscored Bucknell 37-5.

That also meant rebounding, which the Mountaineers expectedly held a 42-32 advantage including 17 on the offensive end. Those extra opportunities meant seven more shots than the Bison and 14-more second chance points which proved to be a major difference in the final outcome.

That also meant hustle plays, where the aggressive and deep Mountaineers typically thrive by using shear effort to beat teams to loose balls and force deflections and turnovers with their frenetic pace. It’s a sense of controlled chaos that has come to define the team over the past several seasons.

One sequence in particular that stood out was when senior forward Nathan Adrian deflected a pass only to dive to the ground and send the ball to Lamont West for a dunk. It’s the type of play that has come to define the career of the Morgantown senior and a momentum shifting one for the Mountaineers.

“It’s just kind of what we do. We see a ball on the ground and we got to go get it. We have to get every 50/50 ball for us to win,” Adrian said.

While the press wasn’t as effective in the turnover department with only 15 for the game, the Mountaineers did end up plus three in the points off turnovers category. All important in a matchup that was decided by only six points.

Are there flaws? Absolutely. It wasn't perfect, but it doesn't have to be.

West Virginia continues to be careless with the basketball at times and found itself with 13 giveaways against Bucknell, most of them unforced errors. The Mountaineers also have struggled at the free throw line in late game situations but this was not the case in the opening round.

Over the final three minutes of the game, the Mountaineers hit 10-12 from the stripe and were 16-21 in the second half. Senior guard Tarik Phillip kept Bucknell from closing the gap any closer hitting all six of his free throw attempts down the stretch with confidence.

“Coach has been telling us for the longest while that turnovers and free throws are going to be the death of us, so if we limit turnovers and make free throws, you have a great chance of winning,” Phillip said.

And in the end that’s what West Virginia did. Won an NCAA tournament game, something it didn’t do a year ago when it was surprisingly upset by Stephen F. Austin. Now it’s onto Notre Dame for a second round matchup and the right to move on in the West Regional bracket.

One thing is clear, win or lose West Virginia will do it their way – regardless of who thinks it's pretty or not. Basketball is not beauty contest.