Arizona coach Sean Miller says he is not a candidate to replace Kevin Stallings as Pitt’s basketball coach. Pitt’s top target now appears to be Rhode Island’s Dan Hurley. Other names in the mix at Pitt include St. Bonaventure’s Mark Schmidt and Buffalo’s Nate Oats.
WVU Ahead of Storm
The 5th-seeded West Virginia Mountaineers Men’s Basketball team left Morgantown yesterday for Friday’s Sweet 16 appearance in Boston against top-seeded Villanova. WVU left a day early because of the winter storm hitting the east coast. Listen to the WVU/Villanova game on the OVSN 94.9 FM, we’ll take the air Friday night at 7 for the 7:30 tipoff.
Mountaineers Change Travel Plans
A winter storm expected to hit the Northeast is forcing the West Virginia men’s basketball team to alter its travel plans for the third round of the NCAA Tournament. The 5th-seeded Mountaineers will leave today instead of tomorrow for Boston, where they face top-seeded Villanova Friday night at 7. Join the Ohio Valley Sports Network 94.9 FM Friday night at 6:30 for the Mountaineer’s pregame show.
WVU-Baylor In Big 12 Tournament
Bates-Diop and Holtman Receive Big Ten Honors
Ohio State’s Keita Bates-Diop has been named the AP Big Ten Player of the Year. Bates-Diop is second in the conference in scoring with 19.2 points per game and tied for second in rebounding with 8.9 a game. First-year Buckeyes’ coach Chris Holtmann is the Big Ten coach of the year. Ohio State’s 24 wins are the most by a first-year coach in program history.
Huggins Reprimanded
The Big 12 reprimanded WVU coach Bob Huggins for his comments about the officials after the Mountaineers’ loss to Kansas last week. Huggins, who was ejected from the game, pointed to the disparity in the teams’ number of free throws. Kansas took 35 foul shots; WVU attempted two. The 21st-ranked Mountaineers host Iowa State tomorrow night at 6.
College Basketball Scores
College Hoops, 5th-ranked West Liberty slammed Notre Dame College 112-68. Wheeling Jesuit handled Urbana 90-65. West Liberty hosts Wheeling Jesuit Saturday afternoon at 4. Also in college basketball, Wake Forest downed Pitt 63-57. No. 4 Xavier beat Georgetown 89-77 and 17th-ranked Michigan topped Penn State 72-63.