West Virginia vs. Virginia
Time: 6 PM CT (ESPN)
Location: Madison Square Garden
Spread: UVA -4.5
Total: N/A
Betting odds c/o Bovada
No. 10 ranked Virginia has made the tournament the past two seasons and Malcolm Brogdon is coming off an ACC player of the year season which saw him average 14 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
Malcom Brogdon has upped scoring figure still, which could only make this Cavaliers team that much tougher to take down.
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Offense had been problematic last year, but Brogdon and 6’2” junior point guard London Perrantes should be able to get it going.
Perrantes is a top-notch distributor and averaged 4.6 assists last season to go with his 6.4 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. He needs to look more for his own offense, though, if this team is going to really click on the offensive end. His shooting was not good last season and teams are able to lay off him by and large.
Brogdon is averaging 17.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.1 steals/blocks per game while also leading the team in minutes (31 per).
Tennessee transfer Darius Thompson only averaged 2.6 points per game last season but is a good combo guard who can take some time at the point. Thompson is good at getting to the basket, but is not a great finisher. Thus far he is No. 5 on the team in scoring at 8.3 points per game but is shooting 55.6 percent from the floor and 41.2 percent from behind the arc.
Sophomore Marial Shayok is a good shooter and will get time because the Cavaliers need the floor spacing. Shayok has been on point thus far, hitting 51.4 percent from the floor and 41.2 percent from three-point range, while averaging 8.3 points per game.
The second scoring option after Brogdon is 6’8” senior Anthony Gill, who is a strong finisher and is able to draw a lot of contact. He averaged 11.6 points last season but was a mediocre rebounder with 6.5 per game last season and has increased that to 12.6 points and 5.8 rebounds (down) this season.
Senior Mike Tobey is a great rim protector and key to the vaunted defense. Tobey averaged 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. But he just 17.1 minutes per game last season but will likely play in the mid-20s this year. Tobey has seen just 18 minutes thus far but that will likely increase. He is averaging just 0.6 blocks/steals per game, but his individual defense has still been good overall. His help-side is where the improvement must come.
Senior Evan Nolte is a good stretch-4 at 6’8” with the range to keep teams honest. He shot just 27.6 percent from three last year, which will have to improve if he is really to serve his purpose. Nolte posted averages of 3.1 points and 1.5 rebounds per game last season, and thus far he has played little to no role, appearing in just 56 minutes thus far through eight games.
Sophomore Isaiah Wilkins will have to hit the boards hard if he wants to earn his time, last year he averaged 2.5 rebounds per game, but was good on a per-minute basis. This year, he is seeing 17 minutes per night as part of the nine-man rotation. He is blocking close to a shot per game, but is snagging just 3.5 rebounds in 2015-16.
West Virginia is ranked No. 14 in the nation and still undefeated at 7-0, but like its opponents it has seen no real quality opponents yet. Both teams face their toughest test in one another tonight.
WVU knocked off Kennesaw State 87-54 last game, but finds itself an underdog for the first time this season tonight.
Devin Williams has been outstanding for the Mountaineers. The 6’9” junior has increased his production across the board, averaging just under 12 points per game but posting nearly 19 this year. He’s the leading rebounder, too, at 10.7 boards per game while posting 0.9 steals/blocks.
In the win over Kennesaw he scored 26 points on 11 of 15 shooting. Over his past three games he has hit 25 of 38 from the field while grabbing 10 rebounds per game. In the win over San Diego State he had four assists, but it came at the cost of seven turnovers to go with them.
The Mountaineers rely heavily on the offense of Daxter Miles, Jr., Jevon Carter and Jonathan Holton. The trio combines to score 36 per game, which combined with Williams production accounts for 61 percent of WVU’s buckets. While the team is still top-heavy in talent, it relies on an 11-man rotation that may not tighten up a lot when the more important games come.
The Mountaineers are currently averaging 88 points per game, but that figure is sure to fall as result of the team’s slow pace and defensive focus.
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