Pac 10 Fans Home
Pac 10 Football
Pac 10 Basketball
Pac 10 Baseball
College Fansites
Pac 10 Apparel
Pac 10 Tickets

NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Preview: Washington vs West Virginia

Thursday 7:27 pm: (11) Washington vs. (2) West Virginia

West Virginia got some very bad news on Tuesday as Truck Bryant broke a bone in his foot and will be out for the rest of the tournament.

Already thin in the backcourt, the Mountaineers now have just one point guard on their roster in Joe Mazzulla, who is playing with basically one shoulder.

That said, Mazzulla has spent most of the latter part of this season as the primary ballhandler for WVU. Truck starts, but Mazzulla plays the important minutes. Even with Bryant on the court, he is rarely the primary option.

The Mountaineers are going to be a tough matchup for the Huskies because of their size. The graduation of Jon Brockman really hurt this UW team. Without Brockman, the Huskies really don't have a great rebounder inside, and rebounding is the strength of this West Virginia team. At times, WVU's best offense is to simply get a ball up on the rim and go get the offensive rebound. The Mountaineers usually have four guys on the floor that are between 6-7 and 6-9, athletic, and strong. The Huskies are going to have their work cut out for them on the glass.

> Browse the selection of Pac 10 apparel & merchandise online as well as Pac 10 tickets through Pac 10 Fans and partner sites.

That said, losing Bryant may have an effect on the defensive end as well. The Huskies like to spread the floor offensively and let their scorers create, and they do have some good scorers. One should expect WVU to fall back into its 1-3-1 zone at some point in this game, and it will be interesting to see how Washington handles it.

What this game is going to essentially come down to is who takes advantage of the mismatches involved. Will Washington be able to push the tempo and capitalize on its 1-on-1 ability, or can WVU make this a slugfest that is played in the paint?

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer