Wednesday Morning Shootaround

Well, Jimmy V Week is over. Hopefully the V Foundation made some money during this past week, other wise I think Dick Vitale's head might explode. If there is one thing that Dickie V cares about more than college hoops, it is ending "CAN-SUHH".

All kidding aside, the speech my Jimmy V at the ESPY's still and always will give me chills. And the work that Dickie V and the rest of the V Foundation does to raise money is more than impressive. But as Dick said in his speech last night, sports is a distraction from real life, so without further ado let's jump into last night's games, starting with the Jimmy V Classic.

• Davidson 68, West Virginia 65: What an ugly game this was. Neither team played bad; they both played horrific basketball. West Virginia could not make a shot, but Davidson could not get a rebound, which meant that the Mountaineers got what seemed like three shots each time down the floor. West Virginia did such an outstanding job on Stephen Curry (for 35 minutes at least) that they were able to take a four-point lead at one juncture down the stretch even though Joe Mazzulla and Alex Ruoff were on the bench with injuries.
  
  The rest of the country should take notes on how WVU defended Curry. They put bigger, longer guys on him (John Flowers, who is 6'7", and Devin Ebanks, who is 6'9") and they switched every ball screen. They were physical with him once he got rid of the ball and attacked him on the defensive end, especially with Da'Sean Butler and Flowers, who continually posted Curry up. Curry finished the game with 27 points, but shot 9-27 from the floor. He also had 10 assists, but turned it over eight times. In all the games that I have watched Curry play, this was the first time he ever seemed to be frustrated and forcing the issue. Easily the worst game he has had in a very long time. But you want an idea of what kind of player Curry is? In the last five minutes, he scored 13 of Davidson's 14 points, including knocking down four jumpers, three from beyond the arc. The last two came on back-to-back possessions to erase a four point WVU lead.
  
  One last thing about Davidson - other than Curry, the rest of this team plays scared. I mean, they gave up 29 offensive rebounds. 29. West Virginia is long and has some athletes that are going to the rim aggressively, but is it really that hard to throw your body in front of somebody? If Davidson had limited WVU on the glass, they would have won this game by 20, damn Curry's off night.
  
  West Virginia came into this came beat up. Joe Mazzulla played six minutes in the first half, then came out for good because of a shoulder injury while Alex Ruoff never even got off the bench (except for once, when it looked like Huggins called his name to sub, then changed his mind 10 seconds later). Losing those two really hurt the Mountaineer's offensive rhythm. They are more of a swing it around and find a mismatch on the perimeter kind of team as it is, so without Mazzulla and Ruoff, there was no ball movement, and most of the second half was someone driving, throwing up a tough shot, and West Virginia getting one or two offensive rebounds before losing it or scoring.
  
  Once Ruoff and Mazzula are healthy, WVU is going to be good. While they are never going to be running the Princeton offense, at least with Mazzulla in there, Huggins will have someone to run the team and distribute the ball, while Ruoff will be able to spread the floor with his shooting. But even with those two in the line-up, the Mountaineers are still going to the attacking the offensive glass. I liked what I saw out of freshman Devin Ebanks last night. He is as raw as they come (did you see him dribbling when he led that fast break in the first half?) but he is a great rebounder that can finish around the rim (two straight double-doubles with 17 boards). I also really like Da'Sean Butler's game. He reminds me a bit of Caron Butler. He can post you up or knock down a jumper and he is a good defender and a great rebounder, especially on the offensive end.
• Texas 67, Villanova 58: I have now seen Texas play three times this year. They are an excellent defensive team, setting the tone with Justin Mason hounding the opposing point guard for 40 minutes. Offensively they are solid as well, with their offense tending to consist of either running AJ Abrams off of some screens or having Mason penetrate and create, either on his own or off of a ball screen. Then, when the shot goes up, they have three or four guys attacking the offensive glass. 
  
  But even with all of that, their season is going to come down to defensive rebounding - will Texas learn to box out? Their front line is huge and goes six deep, but for a group of guys as big and talented as they are, they get beat of the offensive glass too often. Against UCLA and Villanova, the 'Horns were so much more effective and built up their leads when they were able to control the defensive glass (see UCLA first half/'Nova down the stretch).
  
  Some last thoughts on the 'Horns: when Dexter Pittman gets into shape, he is going to be a terror for Big XII teams. He is already big and strong, but has proven that he is a pretty nimble guy (he had a block last night where he came from the other side of the lane to block a dunk while managing to catch an elbow to the face by the shooter). Clint Chapman and Gary Johnson would start on just about any other team in the country. Varez Ward and Dogus Balbay are both going to be good, but they must become better decision makers. Ward needs to learn what a good shot is, while Balbay needs to make smarter passes.
  
  Villanova, like West Virginia, is going to be good and should not worry too much about this loss. Dante Cunningham looked like an all-american against the very good Texas front court as he finished with 23 and 12, but the Wildcats got next to nothing from their three guards. Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher, and Corey Stokes combined for 21 points, 17 off their average. Justin Mason is a phenomenal defender and had Scottie Reynolds locked down throughout the game. If Cunningham keeps playing like he has, giving 'Nova that inside presence, they are going to be fine because that back court is too talented to consistently play like they did last night.

Other games of note:

• Purdue 68, Ball State 39
• Georgia 67, Virginia Tech 66: The Hokies lose another heartbreaker as Albert Jackson scored with 28 seconds left for the game-winning basket. 
• Iowa 65, Northern Iowa 46
• St. Joe's 85, Towson 64
• Seton Hall 92, Cal Baptist 80
• Drake 66, Iowa State 63
• Wisconsin 60, Idaho State 58