Carrigan has come into his own as well, showing why he led the nation in blocked shots a year ago at FIU - he already has 12 on the season. Paulicap, for example, was one of West Virginia’s most efficient players against Bellarmine - coming off the bench, he added six points on a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor while adding a pair of rebounds and a block. Looking at the individual performances of the bigs, though, it’s difficult to ignore the progress they’ve made. The quartet of Isaiah Cottrell, Gabe Osabuohien, Dimon Carrigan and Pauly Paulicap get the most minutes o WVU’s big men, but all four combine to score just 15.7 points per game.
WVU’s offensive struggles glare especially on the inside. “I’m all for him getting 25 or 30 a game, but we need some other guys to step up and score for us as well.” “Offensively, we still rely on Taz too much,” Huggins said after WVU’s recent win over Bellarmine. Several other players have shown flashes - Sean McNeil also averages double digits, while Jalen Bridges has the proven ability to take over games - but WVU wants to see some of those guys step up more regularly. This has become a minor area of concern for Huggins they near conference play next month. He has been the Mountaineers’ most consistent scorer by far as the only team member notching double-digit totals in all seven games thus far. Senior guard Taz Sherman has broken out in the early part of West Virginia’s season, averaging 20.1 points per game and setting a career-high in scoring earlier this season. West Virginia lost all three of those matchups. He actually faced the Mountaineers three times while an assistant at Florida, even making the trip to the Coliseum last season. This won’t be Nichols’s first trip back to Morgantown since changing colors, however. We all start somewhere and hopefully have success, and hopefully that success is continued other places.” “It’s a great opportunity for him, and particularly to be able to do it in his hometown. In April, he got the call to return home as he accepted the head coaching job at Radford - the town in which he grew up. Since then, Nichols has made the rounds - from Northern Kentucky and Wofford to Louisiana Tech and Florida. He played just one season overseas before getting right into coaching, starting on Huggins’s staff in 2010. He averaged over 10 points per game both seasons under Huggins and played in 144 games for the Old Gold and Blue. Here are some of the biggest storylines heading into this contest:ĭarris Nichols had a strong career in Morgantown. Tip-off between WVU and Radford is set for 4 p.m. A native of Radford, Va., Nichols played four seasons for the Mountaineers from 2005 to 2008, spending his final two years under the watchful eye of Huggins. That will change Saturday as his Mountaineers (6-1) host Radford (4-4), a squad led by first-year coach Darris Nichols. In over 40 years as a head coach, Bob Huggins doesn’t see many more firsts in college basketball.