Starting Five Up in Air as WVU Prepares for Kansas

Mountaineers look to break five game losing streak

MORGANTOWN -- Bob Huggins has removed the kids' gloves he has been wearing since West Virginia (8-9, 0-5 Big 12) tipped off the season.

Now, the Mountaineers coach will hold no punches back as his team prepares to play host to perennial Big 12 champion Kansas (15-2, 4-1 Big 12).

"That's it," Huggins exclaimed following Tuesday's embarrassing 98-67 setback at TCU.

"I think I know a little bit about what I'm doing and that's defiance. That's it.

"If they (the players) think they are stronger-minded than I am, if they think they are tougher than I am, they've got a long, long way to go."

Yet, while the two teams' records are vastly different, there are similarities in how each got to this point in the campaign.

Kansas big man Udoka Azubuike suffered a severe ankle sprain Dec. 6 and missed nearly a month of action. He came back and put up monster numbers in a blowout win over Eastern Michigan (23 points, nine rebounds) and followed that up with eight points and nine rebounds in a win over then-No. 23 Oklahoma.

The next week in practice, he suffered a hand injury, an MRI revealing a torn tendon that required surgery that put him out for the remainder of the season.

A saga that has also played out in Morgantown with NBA prospect Sagaba Konate.

Neither will be on the court for today's 2 p.m. tipoff as Kansas looks to continue its domination of the Mountaineers. KU leads the overall series, 10-4, as well as all three meetings last season.

The Jayhawks are coming off an 80-78 victory over Texas on Monday and have won three in a row since losing to Iowa State, 77-60, on Jan. 5.

Kansas coach Bill Self will likely go with a lineup that includes senior Lagerald Vick (15.2 ppg), sophomore Marcus Garrett (6.7 ppg) and freshmen Quentin Grimes (7.0 ppg) and Devon Dotson (11.0 ppg) at the guards with 6-foot-9 junior Dedric Lawson (19.2 ppg, 10.6 rpg) at forward.

Huggins' starting five could come from a pool of 14 players.

In the loss at TCU, WVU's head man started an all junior lineup that included Jermaine Haley (3.5 ppg) and James 'Beetle' Bolden (12.2 ppg) at the guards with Wesley Harris (8.5 ppg), Logan Routt (2.7 ppg) and Lamont West (11.4 ppg) at the forwards.

But it is unlikely that unit will open for the Mountaineers today, which means senior Esa Ahmad (12.8 ppg), junior Chase Harler (4.8 ppg) and freshmen Derek Culver (12.0 ppg, 8.6 rpg), Brandon Knapper (4.0 ppg), Trey Doomes (3.5 ppg), Jordan McCabe (2.7 ppg) and Emmitt Matthews Jr. (2.5 ppg) could get the starting nod.

Fairmont Senior graduate Taevon Horton or sophomore Andrew Gordon may also line up at center court for the tip.

"We have a lot of guys with all the answers that don't even know the problems," Huggins said. "We have too many guys who think they are smarter than what they are and way too many guys who think they are better than what they are."