The Shotgun/Throwdown: Thoughts on West Virginia’s season-opening win

Welcome, By-Godders, to The Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU’s best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor, and daily distractions.

The West Virginia men’s basketball team won its season opener over Mount St. Mary’s, 76-58. You can’t make predictions for the season based on one game, but here are some thoughts about WVU’s first win of the year.

Emmitt Matthews is back. Matthews showed that he can be a scorer and defensive leader for the Mountaineers, which is encouraging considering WVU has eight other newcomers. Emmitt was also active on the boards.

Mohamed Wague brought great energy off the bench. The sophomore forward was very close to a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds, and that was because of the effort he put forth getting rebounds and putbacks.

Jimmy Bell needs to be strong with the ball. There’s no question that Bell is built to be a beast in the low post, but he needs to let the game come to him and protect the ball when he gets it. He was the only Mountaineer that didn’t score tonight, but he has the potential to be a double-double type of player if he can be stronger with the ball.

WVU started slow, but that’s probably expected in the first game of the season with nine new players. And the Mountaineers turned the ball over more than head coach Bob Huggins wanted to see. But a 15-0 run late in the first half helped the Mountaineers get a cushion and a variety of lineups were able to be tested against this mid-major opponent. The team also showed some fiery moments, both good and bad, but that probably reflects the toughness that Huggins wanted to see this year.

What were your thoughts on WVU’s season-opening win?

Soccer

WVU women win Big 12 soccer tournament title, Men advance to Sun Belt semis

An amazing, deep-shot goal helped the West Virginia women’s soccer team defeat TCU in overtime to win the Big 12 Championship. The WVU men’s soccer team also had a great weekend, by knocking off Coastal Carolina to move on to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Semifinals.

WVU to host Virginia Tech Sunday in NCAA Tournament opener

Winning the Big 12 title gave the WVU women’s soccer team an automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament, so now the Mountaineers will host Virginia Tech on Sunday afternoon.

Manoah a finalist for AL Cy Young

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher, and former Mountaineer, Alek Manoah has been named a finalist for the American League Cy Young Award.

Around the Big 12

Robinson stars as Texas holds off No. 13 K-State, 34-27

Junior running back Bijan Robinson ran for over 200 yards to help Texas upset Kansas State on Saturday. Junior linebacker Jaylan Ford also racked up 10 total tackles for the Longhorns.

Neal leads Kansas past No. 18 Oklahoma State, 37-16

Oklahoma State has now lost three of its last four games, after starting the season 5-0.

Around the NCAA

Georgia vs. Tennessee score, takeaways: No. 3 Dawgs suffocate No. 1 Vols offense in dominant rivalry win

Georgia handled Tennessee this past weekend to take the top spot in college football.

Daniels, No. 15 LSU outlast No. 6 Alabama, 32-31 in OT

A thrilling two-point conversion in overtime helped LSU defeat Alabama, and the Crimson Tide might be out of the playoff race.

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