Morgantown, West Virginia- We haven’t seen our Mountaineers in the Big Dance for 3 years… That ends tonight.
2019 was a year to forget for WVU basketball. A 15-21 record and last place finish in the Big 12 for the first time. No invite to the NCAA Tournament, and one of the more embarrassing losses in school history when Coastal Carolina came to Morgantown and dropped 101 in the Coliseum to knock West Virginia out of the CBI… THE CBI!!!
2020 Well…….. Covid….
Now we are here, 2021 with Huggs’ best offensive team in a decade and a chance to make a run for it all. These Mountaineers tip–off the tournament tonight at 9:50 p.m. on truTV against Morehead St.
10 years ago a different #13 seed Morehead St. shocked the country with an upset win over then #4 seed Louisville. Those Eagles were led by two seniors, Demonte Harper and future NBA talent Kenneth Faried. With 4.2 seconds left to play Harper hit a 3 to bury Rick Pitino and his Cardinals. Morehead St. would go on to lose in the next round by 17 to Richmond.
This version of the Morehead St. Eagles are led by true freshman big man Johni Broome. 1st Team All Conference, OVC Freshman of the Year, and OVC Tournament MVP are just a couple of the awards Broome has earned in his freshman season. Averaging 13.9 points and 9 rebounds, he has been a handful for the Ohio Valley Conference. Add that to dynamic guard Devon Cooper (12.2 pts, 5 reb) and the Eagles have a dangerous one-two punch. However against Power 5 competition Broome’s numbers dropped dramatically, averaging only 6.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in games against Kentucky, Ohio St., and Clemson earlier this season.
Questions going into tonight’s game:
Can Derek Culver & Gabe Osabuohien slow down Broome, the 6′ 10″ big man for the Eagles?
Can Deuce McBride and Taz Sherman get cooking early?
And do we start this run for a National Championship with a statement win?
Tune in tonight and find out, the run for it all begins NOW!
LET’S GOOO!
