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West Virginia (15-20) is onto the quarterfinal round of the College Basketball Invitational and for head coach Bob Huggins the experience is a good thing for his young team.

The Mountaineers were able to get past Grand Canyon in the opening round and will now host Coastal Carolina inside the Coliseum Monday night at 7 p.m.

“The more games these guys play together, obviously the better they’re going to get,” he said. “The opportunity to play five or six more games is very beneficial.”

The Chanticleers sit at 16-16 out of the Sun Belt Conference and are coming off an 81-72 win over Howard in the opening round of the CBI.

Senior forward Zac Cuthbertson leads Coastal Carolina in scoring at 18.2 points per game as well as rebounding at 8.2 per contest, while two others average in double figures in freshman guard Devante Jones (12.4) and junior guard Tyrell Gumbs-Foster (10.0).

Gumbs-Foster lead Coastal Carolina in scoring with 21 points in the win over the Bison to advance to play the Mountaineers.

“They’re athletic. From time to time down the floor you don’t know what they’re going to run,” he said.

The Chanticleers finished sixth in the Sun Belt conference and are coached by Cliff Ellis, who sits inside the top 20 in all-time victories for a division one head coach. Huggins also is plenty familiar with him despite the two never facing off on the court against one another.

“I know Cliff really well. We both were on the Nike circuit, particularly back when coaches got away and spent some time together. Cliff and I spent a lot of time together, he’s an absolute great guy to be around,” Huggins said.

The head coach then recalled a story when he was at a restaurant with Ellis and Phil Knight of Nike and the former started signing much to the pleasure of Knight.

West Virginia is a confident bunch despite their overall record and some of that stems from the fact that the group has the opportunity to see the floor after being stuck in logjams earlier this season. Couple that with some of the success such as in Kansas City and it’s a good recipe to have down the stretch

“Being able to win something would be really good going into next year,” Huggins said.

Some of that confidence comes from younger players on the roster being able to ascend to more influential spots such as point guard Jordan McCabe, who tried to lead earlier in the year but that is hard to do while sitting on the bench. Now a regular, his voice has been more prevalent.

“He’s had that from the time he was here he just didn’t have as receptive of an audience as he does right now,” Huggins said. “It kind of helps when you’re out there.”

West Virginia practiced both Saturday and Sunday to get ready for the matchup and if the Mountaineers do advance they would play in the semifinal of the tournament March 27. The opponent would still be up in the air but the game would take place in Morgantown if the Mountaineers move forward.

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