West Virginia @ Marist preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 22, 2012 ) West Virginia 87, Marist 44

West Virginia comes to the Advocare Invitational as the only ranked team in the field and hopes to show why in the next four days, starting with a matchup against Marist in the first round Thursday at Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The 20th-ranked Mountaineers suffered an 88-65 loss in their opener to Texas A&M before rolling to three straight wins while averaging 100 points.

“I wanted to go down there 4-0,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins told reporters before the team left for the tournament. “But we’ve got a chance to win a championship and that makes it kind of fun.” The Mountaineers are playing their usual ball-hawking defense while forcing 22 turnovers per game and allowing 41 percent shooting from the field after consecutive wins against American, Morgan State and Long Beach State. Five different players are averaging in double figures scoring for West Virginia early on, led by senior guards Jevon Carter (15.5) and Daxter Miles Jr. (14.8), and the Mountaineers have drained 39 shots from 3-point range in four games. MAAC member Marist, which is averaging 73.7 points, has dropped its first three games - including an 84-76 overtime decision against Lehigh and a three-point setback versus UMass Lowell.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPNews

ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA (3-1): James Bolden and Lamont West (6.3 rebounds) have each contributed 12.8 points per game and fellow sophomore Wesley Harris tops the team in rebounding (6.8). However, forward Sagaba Konate may just be the most impressive sophomore for the Mountaineers while averaging 10.7 points on 14-of-19 shooting with six rebounds and four blocks per contest. “(Konate) had three (blocks) in three possessions in the first half,” coach Bob Huggins told reporters. “He generally blocks it into the backboard so it stays in play.”

ABOUT MARIST (0-3): Junior guard Brian Parker leads the way for the Red Foxes, averaging 19.7 points and 6.3 rebounds, while four others are scoring at least eight per contest. David Knudsen is averaging 12.7 points on 13-of-24 shooting while fellow junior guard Ryan Funk (12.3) has been almost as efficient, draining 14 of his 27 field goal attempts. Aleksandar Dozic, a 6-9 sophomore from Montenegro, is filling the stat sheet in the early going with 8.3 points per game along with team highs of 7.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists.

TIP-INS

1. The Mountaineers defeated Marist 87-44 in the first round of the same tournament in 2012, which was formerly called the Old Spice Classic.

2. The Red Foxes are allowing 84.7 points per game and opponents have made 44.4 percent of their 3-point tries against them.

3. Carter (168) needs two made 3-pointers to move into ninth place on the team’s all-time list, and three attempts for 500.

PREDICTION: West Virginia 96, Marist 58