The West Virginia men’s basketball team heads south to Birmingham, Alabama to take on the Maryland Terrapins in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
While the ninth-seeded Mountaineers have their full attention on the eighth-seeded Terrapins, we’ll take a look at WVU’s road to the sweet 16 and how this team can make it out of Birmingham unscathed.
Maryland
West Virginia and Maryland have a storied rivalry in football, but with a second NCAA Tournament matchup between the two in the last decade, the emotions could be a bit higher than they already are.
Maryland earned an eight-seed with a solid 21-12 record and a fifth-place finish in the Big 10 conference. Four of the Terrapins’ five starters average double-digit points per game, and the leader of the bunch is senior guard Jahmir Young. Young averages 16.1 points per game and recently put on a show against Penn State, when the senior recorded 26 points and eight rebounds in the loss to the Nittany Lions.
A couple of players that could be tough matchups for WVU outside of Young would be guard Hakim Hart and forward Julian Reese. Despite Hart not reaching double figures in three of his last four games, the size of the senior guard may hurt the Mountaineers. Hart is 6-foot-8, and his size has helped him average 11.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. The Mountaineer guards and potentially Tre Mitchell will need to make sure to put a body on Hart throughout the game to help limit second chance opportunities.
Reese, the sophomore forward, will likely be a handful on offense and the glass for the likes of Mitchell, Jimmy Bell, and James Okonkwo, as the Baltimore native averages 11.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Excluding Maryland’s Big 10 Tournament loss to Indiana, Reese has scored double digits in every game dating back to late January, and Reese put up a double-double in five of those games.
To best the Terrapins, WVU will need to have strong performances from each starter. Against Texas Tech in Kansas City and Kansas State in Morgantown, WVU saw four of its five starters reach double figures in victorious efforts, and if Bob Huggins can see his starters play to their potentials, a first-round win over Maryland is very much in reach.
Alabama
The Crimson Tide earned the number one overall seed in the NCAA Tournament with a daunting 29-5 record, while winning the SEC Tournament in dominating fashion over Texas A&M.
Under fourth year head coach Nate Oats, Alabama has become a top competitor in the SEC, and the 2022-2023 season has been one of many successes, mainly because of freshman phenom Brandon Miller.
Miller averages nearly 20 points per game and also cleans up on the glass, as the Tennessee native averages 8.3 rebounds per game. Miller shoots the ball at a 45% clip and has reached double figures in all but one game this season for the Crimson Tide. Miller also recorded 41 points in an overtime win over South Carolina if anyone had any doubt on his ability to take over a game.
If West Virginia can get past Maryland, the Mountaineers will also be tasked with trying to stop guard Mark Sears. Sears is a great compliment to Miller at the guard position, as the junior averages 12.5 points per game. Sears put up big numbers throughout conference play, but failed to reach double figures in any of the Crimson Tide’s three SEC Tournament games. If WVU could limit Sears and not let Miller take complete control, an upset would not be out of reach.
To beat a top team like Alabama, the Mountaineers would have to have somebody put on an electric performance, and that person could very well be Erik Stevenson, who is averaging nearly 19 points per game in his last seven games. Stevenson could be that player in March that we have seen so many times over the years that takes over games with his shooting ability.
