Mountaineers/Bulldogs win

The West Virginia versus Washington game had to be one of the ugliest I have seen at the sweet 16 level. West Virginia had 23 turnovers and Washington 21. I don't know that Truck Bryant would have helped, but I don't know that he could have hurt. Ebanks had a whopping 8 turnovers. I've never been impressed with his ball handling. It would be effective but look ugly. Last night it was just ugly. He's a good passer if you get him within 25 feet of the bucket, but his dribbling could use some work. The Mountaineers won this game where they've won many before - on the glass. They outrebounded the Huskies 41-25 and turned that margin into 9 more shot attempts than Washington posted. The shooting percentages were nearly identical, so the extra attempts were important. I don't think the Mountaineers can do the same thing against Kentucky. They will not outrebound them by 16. I give the Mountaineers a shot, but they are going to have to shoot well. Kentucky is good. No matter the result on Saturday and no matter how ugly it's looked at times, a Mountaineer fan can't complain about the success they've had this year. They have consistently been ranked in the top 10, they won the Big East tournament, and they made it to an Elite 8. I heard Huggins say last night how much they have improved. He said that he told them throughout the year that they were the worst defensive team he had in ten or twelve years, but they have improved their defense greatly in the past month. I can't argue with any of that, Huggy Bear. They were bad and lately they've been much better on defense. Kentucky, however, will be a stiff test.

I say plenty of things that don't turn out to look to smart, so I would like to take this time to point you to previous posts concerning the Butler Bulldogs. I've pegged them as a dark horse from the beginning and wasn't surprised by their win last night. I give them a good shot against Kansas St. and even in the Final Four (should they make it) against Ohio St. or any of the other teams in that bracket remaining. I don't think they could pull off winning the whole thing should they face Kentucky, WV, or Duke, but they just might get there.