Getty Images This isn’t bold when you look at how many points the Mountaineers are dropping per game (81.6 PPG), but it is rather bold when you look at how many points these squads allow per game (Florida 64.7, West Virginia 63.5).
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West Virginia guard Tarik Phillip (12) calls out an offensive play during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Florida, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, in Gainesville, Fla. West Virginia ranks first in the nation in turnovers forced (19.8 per game) and first in steals (10.8 per game), employing a mix of traps and defensive rotations that make it a struggle to get the ball past midcourt.
“The way the ball was going in, I’m surprised Mike (White) didn’t make one”, Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins joked.
The hot shooting became so contagious reserve guard Brandone Francis-Ramirez, a 12-percent long-range shooter, went 3-for-3. And that they have been great on Saturdays since the beginning of SEC play – dumping Georgia, holding off LSU and the unstoppable Ben Simmons, torching MS in Oxford, bombarding Auburn, and now eviscerating West Virginia – is a tantalizing glimpse of what could be. We played, for most people, hard.
The absence of suspended forward Jonathan Holton hurt West Virginia because the Mountaineers aren’t almost as dominant on the offensive glass without him.
West Virginia (17-3) travels to face Florida (13-7) in Gainesville on Saturday afternoon. The Mountaineers cut it to 31-27 late in the first half, but the Gators closed the first half strong and pulled away after the break.
The Mountaineers shot 43 percent and finished with 18 turnovers.
“We needed a big win”, Finney-Smith said.
“It just gives a boost of confidence, knowing we can play with anybody”, Florida sophomore point guard Chris Chiozza said.
Florida put an exclamation point on the game at the six-minute mark in the second half when Allen tossed an alley-oop for Finney-Smith, who brought down the house with an electric slam dunk.
Until approximately noon, we presumed ninth-ranked West Virginia was this year’s contestant with championship potential.
It was an out of sorts WVU team that took the court without Holton, who had emerged as the team’s best player over the past couple of weeks before violating team rules.
Kansas State’s 5.6 percent showing is the second-worst by a major conference team this season behind only California’s 0 for 12 at OR earlier this month.
“I know Coach Huggins really well”, said Francis-Ramirez, a native of the Dominican Republic.
Florida’s accuracy also extended to the free-throw line. “It kind of jolted us”.
The Gators lost a close one to Vanderbilt 60-59 on Tuesday.
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In going to the press last season, West Virginia went 25-10, 11-7 in the Big 12 and reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since going to the Final Four on 2010. Crawford rushed for 1,523 yards and 14 touchdowns last season and led the Rangers to an NJCAA national title. Allen made his first two 3-point attempts, while John Egbunu had his way inside early before getting into foul trouble, allowing UF to build a 31-15 lead.
