West Virginia not scared of Kentucky

By: LARRY VAUGHT

Bob Huggins says there’s no way he can say West Virginia is going to beat No. 1 Kentucky Thursday night in Cleveland.

“I can't do that. But I can tell you that we're not going to be scared,” said the West Virginia coach after his team beat Maryland late Sunday night to advance to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.

His players feel the same way after getting 16 more shots, forcing 15 steals and grabbing 14 offensive rebounds against Maryland.

“ I guess it's kind of new to you all, but the way we scrap, we get out there and we practice is the same way. And we just playing our hearts out and pretty much we just gotta get back, prepare, focus and it's another team. It's another team. They (Kentucky players) put their drawers on the same way we do. So that's pretty much it. We've just got to prepare, and get our minds right,” Devin Williams said.

Teammate Juwan Staten liked Williams’ approach.

“Dev said it best, they put their drawers on the same way we put ours on. Like I said since we started we played the underdog role. They didn't think we'd get past Buffalo. We got past Buffalo. They didn't think we'd get past Maryland, we got past Maryland,” he said. “I'm pretty sure nobody in the world thinks we're going to get past Kentucky besides the 1.2 million that's in West Virginia. So we're going to keep doing what we do. And keep playing.”

“We don't care what other people say to be honest with you, in my opinion. We have a small circle. We believe in our coaching staff. The title don't have no name anyway,” Gary Browne said.

Huggins faced a similar challenge in 2010 when West Virginia upset No. 1 seed Kentucky in the Elite Eight in John Calipari’s first year at UK. That team had John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe and Patrick Patterson, all now proven NBA players.

So is West Virginia ready for this challenge?

“Well, 36 people haven't been. I don't know. We're going to have fun trying,” Huggins said about UK’s 36-0 record.

Huggins is 8-2 lifetime against Calipari, a coach he considers a long-time friend.

Kentucky won Saturday and will have had one extra day to rest and prepare to play Thursday night.

“Cal's probably already been practicing it. I mean, they let them play on Thursday at whatever, noon or whatever he's had a day and a half already. And I'm not doing anything until tomorrow morning. I'm tired. I'm going to get a break,” Huggins joked after his teams’ win.

“We're kind of used to it. I mean, our league plays Wednesdays, Tuesdays, Thursdays. So we're a little bit used to it. The hard thing is we can't really do much tomorrow. So we'll practice Tuesday and you really don't want to kill them on Wednesday because you need a bunch of energy on Thursday. So it does hurt your preparation.”

Huggins said since it is a “one and done situation” in the tournament, this is not just another game.

“I just want our guys to make sure they know Cal's going to have them ready to go. John and I go back 30, 40 years. We know each other really, really well and we've played against each other a bunch of times. Coached against each other a bunch of times. I wish I could play against Cal. We'd have a better chance,” Huggins said.

“But he'll have them ready. He always does. He does a great job. And I think the hard thing is we don't know what their scheme's going to be. That's the hard thing, you know, for us. ]You get tape and you try to figure out what people are going to do. And we had an idea what Maryland was going to do. I don't know if anybody's really pressed them (Kentucky). We'll have to go back and look.”

Huggins said he had no explanation for his record against Calipari.

“He's an absolutely terrific coach. Very few people could do what he did at UMass and then he went into Memphis when they were struggling,” Huggins said. “I mean John and I tease each other a lot. But I've got great respect for him and for what he's done and what he's been able to accomplish.

“He'll have them ready. He always has them ready. We were fortunate. We won one time in Memphis because our guy thought we were ahead and it was tied and he started dribbling it out, he was going to run the clock out. And they jumped out and wouldn't let him take the ball out. I don't know if they knew what the score was either. And he dribbled in, got a layup and we won by two. So, I mean, it's crazy. But again I've just got great respect for Cal.”