WVU has a good, really tough team this year, and this will likely be a battle all the way through. But I think the matchup favors us, even without Fab Melo. The key will be getting a similar performance out of Rak as we got from the Cincy game. If he (or BMK for that matter can turn things around) can do that, then the defense is going to limit the damage guys like Jones and Bryant can do. Jones is a great player and is going to get his, but this is a tough matchup for him and I don't think he'll be able to take over the game and be the difference maker like he's been in other games. (Especially if our zone takes away his inside game, he's a 29% 3 pt shooter so far this year). I think he'll just put up for respectable numbers in a losing effort - largely because I think the other poster nailed it pointing out that WVU, at least right now, doesn't look like it has a zone buster, and so I'm hoping that means WVU will have to settle for a lot of long, low percentage outside shots. Also working in our favor, WVU is not a particularly deep team, and they're very young, so I wouldn't mind seeing Boeheim pressing a lot to try to force some turnovers from their young kids and wear them down a bit. WVU is averaging 15 assists per game and 14 turnovers a game, so that might be a vulnerability we can exploit. But again the key is Rak holding his own against that big bearded Turk - or at least coming close to it. If not, we'll need big games from guys like KJo and Dion and Scoop to pull this out.
