‘Survive and advance’ is the term most often used during this time of the year. 

 

It didn’t apply to West Virginia’s opening round win in the NCAA tournament on Friday, however. The firth-seeded Mountaineers handled the 12th-seeded Murray State Racers fairly easily, winning 85-68.

 

The biggest key? Jevon Carter locked up Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year, Jonathan Stark. Stark came into the game averaging 21 points per game, but was held to just one field goal on the day. 

 

Carter did to Stark what he has done to pretty much everyone he has faced. There’s a reason Jevon Carter is the two-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. He should win his second straight national defensive player of the year award in a few weeks. Carter was also outstanding on the offensive end as well. He scored 21 points and added eight assists, five rebounds and five steals. 

 

WVU also got a scoring boost from Teddy Allen as well. The freshman dropped in 16 points on the afternoon. Allen had not scored in double figures since putting up 16 points against TCU back on February 12.  

 

Sags Konate put up 14 points in 24 minutes of action and Esa Ahmad added 12 points to give WVU four double figure scorers. That seems to be the magic number, by the way. Four. Against conference opponents this year, West Virginia was 7-0 when four players scored in double figures. WVU was just 2-5 (vs conference opponents) when they had three players score in double figures. 

 

Murray State was obviously not a conference opponent, but four players in double figures was the magic number again today. 

 

Next up for WVU... here comes the Herd. Marshall pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament on Friday as they beat the four seed, Wichita State. It wasn’t fluky either. Marshall was just better. 

 

Charleston native, Jon Elmore was electric. He finished with 27 points against the Shockers. Now Elmore will face the guy many call the best on ball defender in college basketball. Keep an eye on that individual matchup. The winner will most likely determine the winner of the game. 

 

This game between WVU and Marshall really is amazing when you think about it. Two teams from the same small state that don’t play each other anymore are meeting in a high stakes NCAA tournament game 3,000 miles from the state in which they are located. 

 

I know the NCAA says they don’t set up these matchups intentionally. That’s what is said publicly and privately. But, my goodness is it hard to believe. I said earlier this week on our podcast, Three Guys Before The Game (with Tony Caridi and Nathan Adrian), that I thought the committee missed a great opportunity to facilitate a matchup that would have delivered some great storylines. 

 

Twenty years ago this year, Jarrod West had one of the iconic March moments. His three with virtually no time remaining against Cincinnati and Bob Huggins propelled the Mountaineers to the Sweet 16. That shot happened in Boise. 

 

Boise is once again a host site for the tournament this year. 

 

Jarrod’s son, Jarrod, plays for Marshall. 

 

Can you imagine the hype if Jarrod West was playing in the NCAA tournament against his father’s team (WVU), coached by the guy his father’s shot beat (Bob Huggins), on the same floor where it happened 20 years earlier? That would have been fantastic. 

 

Missed opportunity for the committee, in my opinion. But, we still get the Marshall-West Virginia matchup. It will just take place in San Diego instead of Boise. This has a chance to be a really fun game. Marshall likes to shoot a bunch of threes and score points. 

 

West Virginia prides itself on defense. As it did in the first round, Press Virginia will be looking to lock up another talented guard. 

 

We don’t get to see this matchup in Charleston any longer, but we get one on Sunday that means even more. 

 

The stakes are high. A Sweet 16 berth is on the line. 

 

Survive and advance. One team from the state will do just that on Sunday. 

 

What do you think about this Marshall - WVU matchup?

 

Do you love it or hate it? 

 

I have a poll up on my Twitter feed @BradHowe07 if you would like to cast your vote or leave a comment for us here and tell us what you think. 

 

Editor's Note: Photo by Ben Queen of www.benqueenphotography.com.