After controlling a game against the Oregon State Beavers the Florida Gators (4-2) will look to end their PK85 experience on a high note taking on the West Virginia Mountaineers (5-1).
West Virginia got to this point of the tournament by dropping their opening game to Purdue 80-68 before easily taking down a pesky Portland State team 89-71.
Previous to the PK85 the Mountaineers had wins over Mount St. Mary’s, Penn, Morehead State, and most notably Pittsburgh who, while in tailspin, is still a high major opponent and a rival of the Mountaineers and West Virginia was able to blast them 81-56.
West Virginia is in year 16 of the Bob Huggins era and his style of tough nosed, no-nonsense, defense-first basketball has become synonymous with the Mountaineer brand. Huggins and the Mountaineers are coming off a disappointing season that saw them finish 16-17 and 4-14 in Big 12 conference play but they return some of their better pieces and are expected to finish in the top half of the conference and have a decent seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Florida has had some luck against West Virginia recently taking a 4-game win streak into Sunday’s matchup with three of those games happening in the last five years with the Gators taking wins in each of them despite the fact that West Virginia was often favored. Of course, the pieces from both of these teams and one of the coaching staffs have been changed over since then, but it’s interesting to note Florida’s success against the Mountaineers recently.
For years Bob Huggins’ West Virginia teams have been referred to as “Press Virginia,” a nod to the full court press they played for nearly 40 minutes a game making for a distinct style of play you didn’t really see at any other high major program. While the nickname has stuck, it’s not as accurate as it once was as slowly but surely the amount that the Mountaineers have pressed has slowly gone down. There are a number of factors of it, from how there are more ball handlers on the floor than ever before and how the way the game has been officiated particularly as it relates to hand checking, but for whatever reason the amount of pressing is way down. The Mountaineers will still use it, so far deploying it on about 17% of their defensive possessions so far this season. It is certainly something the Gators will need to be prepared for, but it’s no longer the sole element of West Virginia basketball that opponents need to be prepared for.
Even without the press deployed the Mountaineers are very difficult to play against and still make their opponents uncomfortable but now the focus is in the half court. They will aggressively deny one pass away (think of the very athletic Florida State teams of recent years that gave the Gators issues) and will trap ball screens in order to create chaos in a similar way to what a full court press does, but just in the half court. They are 12th in the country in turnovers forced and for the first time this season Florida’s ball security will really be tested.
West Virginia is led offensively by Erik Stevenson who might sound familiar as he was in the SEC a year ago playing for South Carolina. Stevenson is a methodical two-guard who doesn’t have the fastest first step but he has made a career out of being excellent in the midrange and by using changes of pace and savvy reads off of screens to find his spots. Throughout his career the issue with him has been the lack of a consistent three-point stroke but he’s off to a great start this season hitting 44% of his threes on over four attempts per game so the Gators will have to be aware of that threat. A fifth-year senior on his fourth team (Wichita State, Washington, South Carolina, and now West Virginia) Stevenson has seen just about everything and plays the game like a grizzled vet.
Stevenson isn’t the only veteran in the backcourt as he’s often joined by fourth year point guard Joe Toussaint (transfer from Iowa) and fifth year guard Kedrian Johnson. Both of these guards have a similar game as shorter guards who are fast and physical, knifing towards the rim and breaking down defenses before looking at shooters or, more accurately–to dump it down to a big.
West Virginia’s offense is all about getting deep catches around the rim for their post players who will do their work early and carve out space so that by the time they get the basketball it’s an easy reverse layup or dunk. They are constantly pressuring defenses with flex screens and backscreens to get big men easy catches and that is going to have to be a huge emphasis for the Gators who got diced up by these actions by Xavier who were able to generate free points when the Gators messed up their coverage.
Jimmy Bell is the most dangerous tool in this West Virginia flex screen offense as he stands at 6’10” and 285 pounds, meaning when he gets a seal on his defender–it’s game over. He will bring pure strength and physicality to his matchup with Colin Castleton who will have to try to guard him without fouling. Of course, it’s often guards that are setting flex screens for Bell as they try to force switches and those switches are something the Gators will have to try to avoid to keep players like Kyle Lofton, Trey Bonham, and Myreon Jones from having to guard him on the block.
Tre Mitchell, a 6’9” transfer from Texas, isn’t the prototypical Bob Huggins big–meaning his isn’t an athletic bruiser on the inside, but he has great offensive talent and footwork and that means he doesn’t need to catch it right underneath the hoop, he can get it on the block and still punish the defense. He’s also a three-point threat which should challenge Florida’s drop pick and roll coverage.
This game is going to be an interesting contrast in styles between the pick and roll heavy offense of the Gators and the ground and pound physical style of the Mountaineers. As is the case with most matchups in college basketball where there is a distinct contrast in styles, whoever is able to better dictate the style the game is played will be at a major advantage.
Florida and West Virginia at the PK85 will take place on Sunday, November 27th at 8:30 ET and will be televised on ESPN U.