Miles McBride, Made for March

Morgantown, West Virginia – When ESPN released its “50 Best Players in the NCAA Tournament” a few days ago, Miles “Deuce” McBride was nowhere to be found on the list.

McBride responded by leading West Virginia to a big win over Morehead State, finishing the game with 30 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds and 0 turnovers.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, McBride is the 4th player in the last 25 seasons to have 30 points, 5 assists and 0 turnovers in a NCAA Tournament game, joining Deron Williams, Stephen Curry and Josh Hagins.

In fact, McBride’s performance was so sensational that he had the best efficiency score of any player in yesterday’s games and ranks among the most efficient games in NCAA Tournament history.  McBride’s 44.1 efficiency score was far ahead of the second best score of 37.0 by Arkansas’ Justin Smith.

Miles McBride is made for March and is a perfect player to lead a team like the Mountaineers to a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.  Although he clearly has not gotten the attention or recognition that he deserves, there’s no one in college basketball more equipped to lead his team to a national championship than McBride.

McBride’s athleticism, defensive effort and big shot-making ability stands out, but really, it’s his maturity that really makes a difference for the Mountaineers.

Following his team’s first round win against Morehead State, McBride said the following: “It’s great to put numbers up on the board, but at the end of the day it’s about winning, getting a W in that column.  Next game is about being 1-0 again.  It’s that I did great, but again, I give my teammates a lot of credit for stepping up and a lot of our guys played well.  Anytime we can get in the win column, it’s a big-time night for me.”