WVU ready for shot at No. 1 Baylor
Baylor wasn’t ranked during the pre-season but now 15-games into the year, the Bears basketball team sits undefeated and will enter the Coliseum for the matchup with No. 10 West Virginia (13-2, 2-1) as the top rated team in the nation.
One word to describe the difficulty that the Bears (15-0, 3-0) present for teams is length. Baylor is effective with their zone defense and have the size and length to challenge at all levels.
While the Bears have had size in the past, this year’s team might actually have the most length the program has had in recent years which makes it difficult to simulate in practice.
“When you can pretty much touch hands across the floor you’re going to cover some ground and they cover a lot of ground,” head coach Bob Huggins said.
Despite losing the bulk of the scoring from a season ago, Baylor is led by junior Johnathan Motley and the 6-foot-10 forward is averaging almost 16 points per game.
Joining him on the frontline is junior Jo Lual-Acuil Jr., who after redshirting, averages 10.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game creating a long front court that makes it difficult for teams on both ends of the floor.
“It’s great length. They can make mistakes and compensate for it with their length so you don’t get anything easy or unchallenged around the rim,” Huggins said.
“You have almost two seven-footers playing in the back of that zone so they get their arms up and it makes it difficult to make passes,” senior forward Nathan Adrian said.
In the backcourt, Miami transfer Manu Lecomte has proven highly effective running the Bears offense in his first year with the program averaging almost 12 points and 5 assists per contest. The remaining player in double figures for the Bears is junior Al Freeman with 11.1 points per game.
The combination of what the Bears has gotten from the backcourt as well as the front court as made Baylor one of the surprises of the early college basketball season achieving the No. 1 ranking in the nation for the first time in program’s history.
“I think what they’ve got is a team that really understands roles,” Huggins said.
Meanwhile, the Mountaineers will look to derail the Bears perfect season and will be hosting a No. 1 team for the seventh time in program history. In total, West Virginia is 2-4 in previous matchups and there is no need to added incentive going against one of the best teams in the nation.
“Did I think they were going to be No. 1? No, but I’m glad they are. It’s a great opportunity for us and a chance to make up for the loss to Texas Tech,” Adrian said.
For West Virginia to have success, the Mountaineers must do well in the full court in order to speed up the Bears while effectively passing the ball in the half court on the offensive end.
Huggins plans to get more minutes out of his bench than he did against TCU looking to find time for redshirt freshman Lamont West, senior Teyvon Myers and even freshman Maciej Bender.
“We’ve been playing Nate too much it’s just hard to get him out of there,” he said.
The game is set to tip off at 7 p.m.