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January 7 Sheet

Miami, Fla at West Virginia (-1) - 4:00pm Pacific
It is nothing short of remarkable what West Virginia has accomplished so far this season under first year head coach John Beilien. From what I have read no one has had a bad thing to say about the guy and the way Richmond is underachieving this year without him shows how valuable his presence can be. This is a team that went 1-15 in Big East play last year and were not even close in most. They lost seven players from last years team to graduation, transfer, or dismissal. This years success shows what can be done when you start fresh.

The Mountaineers head into this game with an impressive 8-3 record. They are a perfect 7-0 in home games and own quality wins over Florida & Tennessee. They also recently had a quality showing on the road at UNLV leading by 10 at half and by 14 in the second half before losing on a 3 point play with :14 seconds left. They most recently lost by 30 at St Louis but I am willing to dismiss it as it was third straight road game that followed two games in Las Vegas. So far this year they have followed every loss with a win and the team will be sky high tonight for their Big East conference home opener.

WVU is employing an 8 man rotation, each of which plays no less than 13.2 minutes per game. They are led by gifted sophomore guard Drew Schifino at 19.7ppg. As a team they are shooting .503 from the field (14th best in the country). They also rank 11th nationally in turnover ratio. Players have bought into new motion offense that can easily frustrate opponents. They also play very sound defense.

Miami comes into this game off an overtime win over UNC (without center May). It was first game ever in new on-campus arena at Miami. The Canes were lucky to get the game into overtime as they somehow allowed the Tar Heels to go on an 18-0 run midway through the second half. At the end of the game a Miami player clearly fouled a UNC 3-point shooter but no call was made and Miami escaped. Prior to UNC win, they struggled to beat a horrible Lehigh team by just 6 points. They are a dismal 1-3 on the road so far this year with only win over Central Florida. They could not win at Florida Atlantic and lost at Florida State by 17.

Miami has good players in F/C James Jones and F Darius Rice but no one else has stepped up. Senior F/C Rafael Berumen started the first six games of the year and averaged 9 points a game but has since been in the coaches dog house for lack of hustle. He missed two games altogether and has only played a combined 12 minutes in last four, scoring just two points. Meanwhile, senior starting point guard Michael Simmons has shot just .259 from the field and .154 from 3-point range on the season. Rumors were swirling that he may quit the team as his minutes have also continued to go down. The third & fourth leading scorers on the team are both freshman shooting under 40% for the season who will be playing in their first Big East game on the road. Miami is just not a team I would consider backing right now, particularly on the road as they have no quality guards to rely on.

WVU Coliseum is always a tough place to play, and coach Beilien has immediately brought respect back to this program. These two teams did not meet last year and Miami has not played here since the 2000 season so it will be a new experience for most of the team (Jones 13 minutes, Coelho 4 minutes, only to see action here three years ago). They will be in for a rude awakening. Mountaineers win conference opener.

West Virginia  2 UNITS

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