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#1
I literally have been hoping since midway thru the season that somehow these teams would matchup in the tourney. West Virginia's press defense is serious. They create so many problems for offenses and force about 20 turnovers a game. We learned in their matchup vs. Cincy that Kentucky can be slowed down by a great defense, unfortunately for the Bearcats they have very little scoring ability and depth which is why Kentucky was able to increase their lead at the end. Cincy held Kentucky to 37% from the field and 26.7% from 3. There is no reason to believe that this Mountaineers team which is 1st in the nation in steals and turnovers can't replicate what Cincy was able to do and cause Kentucky to struggle offensively.
West Virginia's defense has caused problems for some very good guards this season. Earlier this year at home they reeked havoc on Kansas, a guard-oriented team who had trouble getting the ball past half court on many of their possessions. Last night they forced Maryland's phenomenal freshman PG Melo Trimble and senior Dez Wells to combine for 11 of Maryland's 23 turnovers. It's no secret that the way to break a press is with great guard play and passing. While the Harrison twins have a little more experience, Tyler Ulis is really the only true point guard that Kentucky has on their roster. It will be interesting to see how this 5 foot - 9 inch freshman will handle the smothering defense of WVU.
One of the reasons that Kentucky continues to pull away at the end of games is their depth, but in my opinion West Virginia is probably the next deepest team in this entire tournament after the Wildcats. Devin Williams is a beast and while he only stands at 6'9 he won't back down to Kentucky's bigs. Remember that 2010 Kentucky tournament team with John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, Patrick Patterson, and DeAndre Liggins? They were knocked out of the tournament by none other than Coach Bob Huggins' Mountaineers. In fact, Bob Huggins in his career is 8-2 vs. Calipari coached teams.
I think West Virginia should be able to give Kentucky fits as a very deep and extremely athletic team who plays swarming defense and creates turnovers like they're nothing. I personally think that the Mountaineers, if playing to their potential, should come closer to beating Kentucky than anybody they've faced this season. Obviously Kentucky is loaded with talent and who knows when they can come out and beat a great team by 20+ but given the offensive struggles I've seen when they play a good defensive team, I don't see this game as a cakewalk for the Wildcats. I think getting West Virginia +13.5 is an absolute gift from Vegas who knows that the public will back Kentucky regardless of the how high the line is. Take the points with the chance for an outright upset. Don't sleep on the Mountaineers!!
0
lmao this is why u don't post plays,look at wvu pressure compared to Arkansas,night and day! Give Huggs a couple days to game plan against the lob,13.5 looking pretty tasty! Great write up Bruce 
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