And now, the tests come much more quickly.
While West Virginia's men's basketball team has certainly faced quality competition, having tipped off against five opponents currently residing in Quads 1 or 2 of the NCAA's NET, those challenges are about to go spiraling upward as it enters Big 12 play.
Kansas State (11-1) at West Virginia (10-2)Sat Dec 31 7:00 PM ETBramlage ColiseumManhattan, KSTV: ESPN+NET: WVU: 11 / KSU: 35Series: WVU 15-9Last Game: KSU 78-73Twitter: @BlueGoldNewsFacebook: BlueGoldNewsWeb: BlueGoldNews.com
Kansas State, with a handful of Top 25 votes and a very NCAA-worthy NET ranking of 35, is up first for the Mountaineers on New Year's Eve. First-year head coach Jerome Tang has gotten the Wildcats off to a better start that just about everyone anticipated, with their 11-1 record to date the best by a first-year coach in school history.
There might be a bit of a question about K-State's schedule to date -- its strength of schedule is 294th in the country and there have been no Quad 1 opponents so far -- but there's no doubt the Wildcats are playing much better this season.
Forward Keyontae Johnson (6-6, 230 lbs.) , a transfer from Florida who sat out two seasons after suffering an on-court medical emergency while with the Gators, is averaging 17.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, and will provide a tough match-up for WVU's forwards, as he ranges the entire floor while hitting a wildly efficient 58% of his shots, including nearly 46% from 3-point range.
The key to the Wildcat offense, though, according to WVU head coach Bob Huggins, is diminutive Markquis Nowell (5-8, 160 lbs.). Nowell sports a better than 3-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, helping fuel K-State's excellent mark of 221 assists on 327 made shots this season. The Cats are 12th nationally in assists per game.
"We'd like to keep it out of the little fellow's hands," Huggins said. "He's the one making the passes. He's the one penetrating with the ball. He's drawing defenders, and he's a terrific passer. The vast majority of what happens with getting other people open comes from him."
How will WVU do that? It will likely extend Nowell's defender full court to try to deny him the ball on inbounds passes, and do the same after he makes an initial pass in the frontcourt, after which he often filters through the set to get a return pass and attack the lane.
On-ball defense has not been a strength for WVU this year, so this is definitely a case of easier said than done. Can the Mountaineers keep Nowell out of the lane and deny him the ball enough to hamper the K-State attack? That's the focal point for this contest. Nowell does have 32 turnovers this year, but given the amount of time he handles the ball, that's not a terrible figure.
"The numbers are deceiving," Huggins said. "He's not a guy who brings the ball down the floor and enters it to the wing and trots away. He is their offense. He initiates it, he's terrific at penetrate and pitch, and gets the ball to the right people. They rely so much on him to create offense. They don't run a lot of staggers or cross screens or anything like that. He is without a question the engine that makes the train run."
Track the number of times Nowell gets in the lane, or is able to catch the ball without pressure. As those figures increase, so too will K-State's chances of winning.
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The league opener matches the two teams that were picked at the bottom of the Big 12 in the preseason coaches' poll. The Mountaineers were tabbed ninth, while K-State placed 10th.
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West Virginia holds the advantage in most of the offensive efficiency categories, while Kansas State as the edge in most defensive efficiency numbers. Does that make the game boil down to the matchups when WVU has the ball? Clearly, the Mountaineers must continue to get the good shooting it has produced thus far in the season. It has shot 50.4% from the field in its 10 wins -- a number that drops to 43.4% in its two losses.
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Kansas State will be playing its fifth game in its last six contests at home. Its lone road game over that stretch was in Kansas City against Nebraska.
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The game has been designated as "Lego Night, as Lego master builders will create a life-sized Wildcat-themed display on the Bramlage Coliseum concourse.
