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West Virginia (4-0) Vs. Kentucky (3-2)
GAME NOTES: The West Virginia Mountaineers and the Kentucky Wildcats will meet in the championship game of the Las Vegas Invitational this evening. It is hard to imagine West Virginia playing any better than it did in last night's 87-68 thrashing over Iowa. The Mountaineers, who are now 4-0 on the season, are members of the Big East Conference, considered by many to be the nation's top league. While not considered to be one of the top teams in that conference, West Virginia certainly appears to have enough talent to make some noise. As for Kentucky, it participates in the SEC, a league that is loaded with talent every year. The Wildcats earned their spot in this title game with a 74-72 decision over Kansas State last night. They opened the season with back-to-back losses to VMI and top-ranked North Carolina, but Billy Gillispie's team now carries a three-game winning streak into tonight's tilt. Kentucky owns a 12-4 series lead over West Virginia, including an 80-66 decision over the Mountaineers in 2005.
Yesterday against Iowa, West Virginia used an early 20-0 run to turn an 11-9 deficit into a 29-11 lead. The Mountaineers forced 17 first-half turnovers and led at intermission by a score of 48-29. Joe Mazzulla and Alex Ruoff both scored 13 points, and Mazzulla dished out six assists as well. Da'Sean Butler posted 12 points for WVU, and Wellington Smith contributed 10 points. The Mountaineers connected on 55.4 percent of their field goal attempts in the tilt and only turned the ball over 10 times. They would have won by an even greater margin if not for a lowly 15-of-34 effort from the foul line. Ruoff is scoring a team-high 17.3 ppg through four outings, and his 46.9 percent shooting from three-point range has been impressive. Butler adds 13.8 ppg to the mix, and Darryl Bryant provides 12.0 ppg off the bench. WVU is generating 85.2 ppg on 52 percent field goal efficiency, and the squad is limiting its opponents to 52.8 ppg and 38.9 percent shooting.
Jodie Meeks was simply sensational for Kentucky in the narrow victory over Kansas State last night, as he finished with 37 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the floor and 11-of-13 from the foul line. Meeks, who scored 24 points in the first half, nailed 4-of-6 three-pointers in the contest. He did commit a staggering total of nine turnovers, but six rebounds and four steals help to offset those mistakes. Patrick Patterson contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats, while Ramon Harris added 12 points. Kentucky connected on 68.8 percent of its field goal attempts in the outing and limited Kansas State to 36.4 percent shooting. Overall this season, the Wildcats are racking up 80.8 ppg while surrendering 71.8 ppg on just 38.8 percent shooting by opponents. Meeks is tallying 24.3 ppg, while Patterson adds 16.0 ppg and 8.5 rpg.
Expect Meeks and Patterson to lead Kentucky past West Virginia this evening. The 'Cats will not shoot the ball as efficiently as they did last night, but they will do enough to hold off the Mountaineers.
Predicted OutcomeKentucky 70, West Virginia 67Copyright 2008 Courtesy of The Sports Network.
