Robert Morris comes into the Coliseum tonight as a welcome opponent after a vexing loss on the road in Miami. West Virginia should get back to what they're trying to do tonight, and I don't expect the Colonials to put up much of a fight. It's a classic regional mismatch that's been going on for years, and should continue long into the future. Gale Catlett teams used to lose this game every few seasons but, despite their struggles, I don't think this Mountaineer team comes out of the Coliseum with anything less than a decisive victory.
That said, things are still perplexing for this installment of the Mountaineers and a return trip to the Final Four looks like a longshot. Right now, the Mountaineers are going to have to find people to score. It's that simple. It's a points game, and right now the 'Eers are short on guys who can give them points. Casey Mitchell's been the man so far this season, but this weekend's loss showed us that if he gets shut down, the Mountaineers have nowhere to go. West Virginia needs either Dalton Pepper, Truck Bryant, Deniz Kilicli or John Flowers to turn into a reliable scorer as soon as humanly possible, or things could get ugly. The problem is the defense has been pretty uninspiring, so I'm not nearly as confident watching the 'Eers muck it up like they could last season. Simply put, someone needs to step forward and lead this team. It could be Kevin Jones. It could be Casey Mitchell. It could be Truck or Flowers, even. But it has to be somebody and it has to be now.
The only interesting note about the Colonials is that Billy Hahn's son is an assistant coach. The real question is, does he wear the turtleneck?
I'm showing my weakness and won't be in the Coliseum tonight. I'm old, cold, and still in recovery from a big time Wedding weekend in DC. So I'll see you right here with in game updates......