Helmut
YTD
5-4 (2-unit)
61-42 (1-unit)
663/664 Seton Hall @ West Virginia UNDER 148.5 (1-unit)
The Mountaineer?s appeared that they were going to be a run and gun team in the non conference portion of the schedule putting up an average of 84.23 ppg and having a pace of 71+. How ever during conference play the pace and scoring has dramatically changed. The scoring has fallen to 65.4 ppg and the pace has drop to 64.4.
West Virginia has played up-tempo conference opponents in Notre Dame, Marquette, Syracuse and Providence. The only game that surpassed 70 possessions was the early season conference game against Notre Dame and that barely crept over the figure. The other three were played to sub 70 pace. Mountaineer conference games have averaged 126.9 ppg and no conference game has exceeded 144 total points.
Only two Pirate games have played over 80 possessions and each of those games was against 70+ possession teams in Connecticut and Notre Dame. The last two Pirate games should have been very up-tempo with games against Villanova and Marquette. Both of these games played near a 70 possession pace.
The Mountaineers have also shot the ball poorly during conference play hitting only 39.4% from the field. The Pirates have also shot the ball poorly in conference games shooting only 40.7% from the field.
The Mountaineer?s are one of the better defensive teams in the league with a defensive efficiency of 91.7, which is #19 in the nation. I?m pretty sure that this will be another sub 70 possession game for the Mountaineer?s as all but the first conference game was. The Pirates have had four straight games where they have shot <40% averaging 66 ppg and now are facing one of the top defensive conference opponents.
The Pyrates will play the games a little slower with the season ending injury to Paul Gause. "When Paul was healthy, we were able to press more," said Gonzalez, whose team is now down to nine players. "Now we've got to pick our spots. We can't press as much." Gonzalez also called out his team for a lack of toughness, so we should se a better effort today.