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UCONN MBB RENEWS OLD RIVALRY IN BIG EAST-BIG 12 BATTLE
12/7/2021 10:22:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Meet West Virginia For First Time In 7 Years
UConn Athletic Communications / Dec. 7, 2021
The UConn men's basketball team will renew an old rivalry on Wednesday night, when it travels to the West Virginia Coliseum to challenge the West Virginia Mountaineers as part of the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff (ESPN2).
It will be the first true away game for the No. 15/18 Huskies (8-1), who are participating in the Battle for the first time. UConn played 19 games against West Virginia while both were members of the BIG EAST, and UConn held a 15-4 edge. The teams have not met in seven years, since West Virginia captured a 78-68 win in the championship game of the 2014 Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan. The Huskies are 6-3 all time at the West Virginia Coliseum, but haven't played there since March 2, 2011.
UConn, which has won three straight games, will still likely be without two injured starters, senior guard Tyrese Martin (wrist) and sophomore forward Adama Sanogo (abdominal strain), two of the top three scorers on the team and two of the top three rebounders. The Huskies are coming off an 88-59 win over Grambling State in which they reached into their depth to give nine players over 12:00 of playing time each, and all nine hit the scoreboard.
Graduate student guard R.J. Cole leads the Huskies in scoring (16.3) and assists (4.4), while soph Andre Jackson is the top active rebounder (7.4). The Huskies are averaging 85.9 points per game, but it is on the defensive end of the floor where they have been dominant – allowing opponents just 62.6 points per game, while holding them to 37.2 percent shooting overall and 31.4 percent from three-point range. The Huskies are forcing opponents into 17.6 turnovers per game.
West Virginia (7-1) is currently on a four-game winning streak and is undefeated (5-0) at home. The Mountaineers are led in scoring by graduate guard Taz Sherman (21.0) and senior guard Sean McNeil (12.0), while sophomore forward Jalen Bridges is the top rebounder (5.0).
West Virginia also relies heavily on its defense, allowing just 63.0 points per game and forcing 19.8 turnovers per game, including 9.6 steals per game.
It will be a busy week for the Huskies, who will return from West Virginia late Wednesday night and travel Friday to Newark, N.J., to meet St. Bonaventure in the Never Forget Tribute Classic on Saturday, Dec. 11, at 4 p.m. at the Prudential Center (ESPN2). That game is the second half of a UConn doubleheader that features the UConn women's team against UCLA in the first game (1 p.m.).Â
