When West Virginia and Notre Dame meet on the basketball court, the end result is almost always a slow, defensive contest, and tonight's affair is no different. West Virginia trail the Irish 30-28 at halftime.
Senior guard Truck Bryant was back in the starting lineup after his benching in the Mountaineers' last contest, and he seems motivated by the opportunity. Bryant has played well, tallying 10 points, three assists and two steals while playing all 20 minutes of the first half. Amazingly, his most impressive play was a missed dunk while getting fouled by Scott Martin. I just didn't know he had the hops to even try it.
Bob Huggins chose to include freshman Gary Browne in the starting lineup again tonight, this time benching fellow freshman Keaton Miles, who hasn't seen the court so far tonight. While Browne hasn't filled the scorebook so far, he has paced the Mountaineers with his hustle, especially on defense.
The Mountaineers are attempting to attack the Irish underneath, and Deniz Kilicli has found some success, while Kevin Jones has seen shots rim out. In the half, both Kilicli and Jones had six points and three rebounds apiece.
The Irish were led by star forward Jack Cooley, who scored 11 points and hauled in four rebounds