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College Hoops Team of the Week: West Virginia

Virginia Tech West Virginia Basketball

West Virginia’s Juwan Staten (3) shoots to score the game-winning basket as Virginia Tech’s Jarrell Eddie (31) defends during the final seconds of their NCAA college basketball game in Morgantown, W.Va., on Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012. West Virginia won 68-67. (AP Photo/Christopher Jackson)

AP

Team of the Week: West Virginia

West Virginia looked like they might be in some trouble early on this season. After getting drubbed by Gonzaga on national television in the opening game of Marathon Madness, the Mountaineers briefly bounced back against Marist before losing the final two games of the Old Spice Classic to Oklahoma and Davidson. It was a less than ideal way for Bob Huggins’ team to start the season. But after a win over VWI in late November, WVU finally made a statement this week as they knocked off in-state rival Marshall before handing Virginia Tech their first loss of the season on Saturday.

We knew it was going to take some time for the Mountaineer team to come together; that’s just what happens when your roster consists of three transfers playing major minutes. The front line looks like it is rounding into form, as Kilicli had 21 points against Marshall and Aaric Murray went for 15 points and seven boards against Virginia Tech. More importantly, Kevin Noreen finally showed of some of his potential, as he notched his first career double-double, finishing with 14 points and 12 boards, seven offensive, against Virginia Tech. The back court is still trying to work their way through the start of the season -- Juwan Staten, Gary Browne and Jabarie Hinds were a combined 3-25 on Saturday -- but one of those three was the game-winning layup from Staten.

Five Teams Deserving a Shoutout:


  • Illinois: Illinois had easily the most impressive win of the week, as they went into Spokane and knocked off a Gonzaga team that everyone believed was well on their way to becoming the Gonzaga that we used to know. I’m not ready to buy the Illini as a real Final Four or national title contender yet simply because they are a team that relies heavily on three-pointers (43.5% of their FGA’s are threes, and 41.0% of the points they score are off of threes, the second-highest rate in the country) and plays only OK defense (they are 63rd in defensive efficiency according to Kenpom). But what I will say is that I no longer look at the Illini as a fluke. Gonzaga is a good team -- even better at The Kennel -- and a bad matchup for Illinois, but they still were able to get the win. That’s impressive.

  • NC State: The Wolfpack seem to finally be headed in the right direction this season. After putting together an impressive second-half comeback in their loss at Michigan, Mark Gottfried’s club picked up a better-than-you-think win over UConn at the Jimmy V Classic followed by a dominating performance in a win over shorthanded Cleveland State. The most incredible stat for NC State right now? CJ Leslie and Lorenzo Brown are currently third and fourth on the team in scoring. That needs to change for this team to compete with Duke for the ACC crown.

  • Charlotte: If I were to give you ten picks for who the last remaining unbeaten team in the 16 team Atlantic 10 would be, how many people would mention Charlotte? But nine games into the season, here we are. The 49ers are 9-0 on the season and the last team without a loss on their resume. They haven’t done it against great competition, but they do have one very good win on their resume right now, as they won at Davidson on Wednesday thanks to some big-time shot-making by Pierria Henry.

  • MTSU: It’s time to start paying attention to the Blue Raiders again. After a 2-0 week, which included a win over previously-undefeated Ole Miss, MTSU is now 7-2 on the season with their only losses coming at Akron in overtime and by 21 at Florida, which is less than Wisconsin, Marquette and Florida State lost by.

  • Dayton: The Flyers are back in the mix at the top of the Atlantic 10 this season, as they went 2-0 this week. That included an impressive win at Alabama where Kevin Dillard went off for 25 points and six assists.

They were good too: Wyoming, New Mexico, Florida, Northern Iowa, Illinois-Chicago

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.