Bad blood has been simmering between the two programs ever since West Virginia ended the annual series three years ago.
Advertisement
WVU and Marshall meet Sunday night in San Diego. Marshall, the 13 seed that advanced to the second round by virtue of a shocker over fourth-seeded Wichita State in the NCAA opener, never got inside 10 again.
“We did it for the state”, said forward Lamont West, a sophomore from Ohio. He leads West Virginia with 17.1 points and 6.7 assists, while committing only 2.7 turnovers per game.
Allen’s play as well as the rest of the Mountaineer bench will be important if WVU is to advance to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year and third in the last four.
The Mountaineers will face top-seeded Villanova next Friday.
Carter, an National Basketball Association hopeful, ended the night with 28 points, four rebounds, and five assists.
“We have done a lot of stuff that hasn’t been done in a long time, but we want to keep winning”, Elmore said. We want to play.
He rated Carter “an exceptional player”. “That’s hard and only one team does it, but that’s what we strive for and that’s what we are expecting out of this run and we’re going to take it one game at a time and see what happens”.
The star of the Herd, Jon Elmore, could only manage three points on 1/5 shooting in the first half. He had eight turnovers. Marshall has some great shooters and as this is more points than I originally though the line was going to be set at, I think that if Marshall limits their turnovers, they’ll be able to cover with the points.
West Virginia is built to contain some of the top players and offenses in the country. “We thought that was going to be our advantage coming in”, he said.
Terrell Miller Jr. had a season-high 27 points with five 3-pointers and added 17 rebounds and Ja Morant had 14 points for the Racers (26-7), who got only one field goal from leading scorer Jonathan Stark.
Carter recorded three steals in the first Oklahoma game and six in the second one.
The Bison made all seven of their free throw attempts and hit five 3-pointers, including three by Slagus. The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder, better known for his defense, led a defense that held Marshall to 39.3 percent shooting.
“Unbelievable. I was shocked”, Williams said. He’s had a phenomenal career.
“They’re good”, Thundering Herd head coach Dan D’Antoni said of the Mountaineers.
Will the Marshall Thundering Herd cover the point spread Sunday night as a double-digit underdog? WVU forces almost 17 turnovers per game due to its constant pressure, a mark that is 10th nationally. “You play one time at their place, one time at our place, one time at a neutral place, whatever”. West Virginia outscored Murray State 48-24 in the paint and the Mountaineers shot 58 percent in the second half.
“We’re a legit program”. In fact, they will be awfully pumped up to play against the big state school and grab a chance to take on Villanova in the Sweet 16.
Regardless of their stance on the series, fans are in agreement that the state of West Virginia will be a big victor tonight.
Advertisement
Bucknell’s final opponent each season has been partial evidence of just how successful the team has been.
