West Virginia Mountaineers
Record: 23-9, 11-7 Big 12
Head Coach: Bob Huggins (8th season)
Season summary: The Mountaineers have used a tenacious full-court press to become one of the top defensive teams in the country this season. West Virginia leads the country with an average of 10.9 steals per game and dictates tempo by wreaking havoc with its defense. However, the Mountaineers' tremendous defense has been overshadowed by their struggles on offense, especially since a knee injury to star guard Juwan Staten kept the senior out of the team's last four games.
West Virginia has dropped three of its last four games without the explosive senior guard and the increased scoring opportunities for Jevon Carter and Devin Williams have been far from promising. Staten’s team-leading 4.6 assists per game have also been sorely missed as the team has lacked a floor general to run the offense. With Staten’s tournament status still up in the air, it remains to be seen how dangerous the Mountaineers will be this March.
How the make a run: Staten returns to the tournament at the top of his game and makes West Virginia a tough out before the Sweet 16.
How they falter: The Mountaineers struggle to reincorporate Staten into their offense and get beaten by a team that takes care of the basketball against the tenacious West Virginia press.
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