West Virginia is back in the NCAA Tournament. After last season ended with more apologies than answers, the answers came over the final month of the regular season for the Mountaineers.
An 0-5 start to Big 12 play sent this team spiraling. Fueled by senior leadership, a Hall of Fame head coach, and a continued belief in themselves though, West Virginia made it back to the big dance for the first time since 2021, and the second time since 2018.
“We had opportunities early, particularly in the conference season where we should have won games and we didn’t win games,” West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins said. “We missed free throws, we missed lay-ups, we threw it away at a crucial time. We just did a lot of things that are uncharacteristic of, really, of this group. And it cost us. And it got to the point where it was time to sit down and say, ‘Fellas, we have screwed up. We put our backs against the wall. And we can either fight our way out or we can give.’ Obviously they decided to fight their way out.”
One of the big reasons for the turnaround and late season push was the play of fifth-year guard Erik Stevenson. Stevenson who was named to the All-Big 12 Third Team, averaged 15.5 points per game this season and closed the final five games of the regular season scoring 20 or more points in every game.
“He’s never played in an NCAA Tournament, which is really hard to believe,” Huggins said. “It’s hard to believe that he’s played for the coaches that he’s played for and the programs he’s played in and he hasn’t played in an NCAA Tournament. So hopefully he’s kind of settled down and plays this like he would play any other game.”
Stevenson — who has been known for letting his personality show on the court — is playing at his fourth school in five years. With one more loss, Stevenson’s career — along with teammates Kedrian Johnson and Emmitt Matthews — will come to an end. That trio helped carry West Virginia over the final two weeks of the season, and is a big reason why West Virginia is playing in the NCAA Tournament.
“It seems like I played a thousand college games,” Stevenson said. “So, I mean, I had this feeling last year like this might be my last game. But I got the year back and I’m glad I’m going to end my career where I want to in the NCAA Tournament.”
Matthews shares that similar feeling of excitement, but wants to take it one game at a time.
“I try not to think about it too much,” Matthews said. “I would rather focus on playing games and focussing on that. When it ends, it ends. It’s supposed to end when it’s going to end. I’m excited though.”
If the Mountaineers are going to prolong their stay in the NCAA Tournament, they will have to face Big Ten foe Maryland. The Terrapins are under first-year head coach Kevin Willard, and are led by Charlotte transfer Jahmir Young.
Young has scored 20 or more points nine times this season and in those games Maryland is 7-2. In the five games, Young scored 10 or fewer points, his team is 1-4. Maryland has a similar type of trend when it comes to playing at home compared to away from the Xfinity Center in College Park, Maryland.
Maryland is 16-1 at home, and a combined 5-11 away from home either on neutral courts or in road games. The Mountaineers though are focusing on playing a Maryland team who in the final month of the season put together big wins over Purdue, Penn State, and Northwestern, among others.
“I think they are playing extremely well,” Huggins said. “You know, obviously I haven’t seen them in person, I just have seen them in tape, but I think they are playing extremely well. And again, Kevin (Willard) has done a terrific job of putting them in positions where they can be successful, which is what we’re supposed to try to do. Which is put them in positions where they can be successful. I think he’s done a great job of putting guys in positions that fits them.”
Maryland’s calling card this season seems to have been their defense. The Terps are holding opponents to score 63.2 points per game, and shoot just 42.8 percent from the field. They also limit opponents to shoot 32.1 percent from beyond the arc.
“Well, hereof late, they make a lot of shots,” Huggins said. “[Willard’s] done a great job with what they do offensively. I think he’s done a great job of putting that team together. Defensively I think from what I saw early and what you watch now, they are much much improved and certainly Kevin deserves the credit for that. They seem to be extremely coachable. They are rebounding the ball very well. They are just doing a lot of things right.”
For Huggins and the Mountaineers, this trip back to the NCAA Tournament not only shows a significant turnaround from a year ago, but is just the second appearance since the ‘Press Virginia’ era.
Huggins said his team is going to play. Win or lose, the Mountaineers did what they were supposed to do by getting back to the NCAA Tournament. Anything more, including a win against Maryland and beyond that would be icing on the cake.
“We’re just going to go play,” Huggins said.. Obviously we’re going to study film, we’re going to look at tendencies and hopefully see what they are good at. If there’s anything they are not good at, I suspect there’s not a whole lot they are not good at, because Kevin does a great job with them.”
