Battle 4 Atlantis Preview: Louisville vs. West Virginia

On By Littum

Louisville Cardinals (4-1) vs. West Virginia Mountaineers (4-1)

Battle 4 Atlantis Semifinals

Playing time: Dinner

Location: Imperial Arena: Paradise Island, Bahamas

Television: ESPN

Announcers: Beth Mowins (play-by-play) and Debbie Antonelli (analyst)

Favorite: Louisville with 2

Series: Louisville leads 9-4

Last meeting: Louisville won 77-74 on February 11, 2012 in Morgantown, WV

History of the series:

Expected starting lineups:

Louisville

  • G Chucky Hepburn (6-2, 190, Sr.)
  • G J’Vonne Hadley (6-6, 215, 5th)
  • G/F Terrence Edwards Jr. (6-6, 205, 5.)
  • F Noah Waterman (6-11, 230, 6.)
  • F Kasean Pryor (6-10, 225, Sr.)

West Virginia

  • G Sencire Harris (6-4, 174, So.)
  • G Tucker DeVries (6-7, 220, Sr.)
  • G Javon Small (6-3, 190, Sr.)
  • G Toby Okani (6-8, 210, Sr.)
  • F Amani Hansberry (6-8, 240, So.)

Statistics:

Relevant videos:

West Virginia’s season to date:

About West Virginia:

West Virginia shocked the college basketball world and turned the Battle 4 Atlantis on its head Wednesday afternoon when it shocked No. 3 Gonzaga in overtime by eight (86-78).

Led by first-year head coach Darian DeVries – who came to Morgantown after six successful seasons at Drake, going 150-55 and taking the Bulldogs to three NCAA Tournament appearances. – The Mountaineers arrived in the Bahamas with modest expectations for the 2024-25 season. Still feeling the effects of Bob Huggins’ abrupt firing before the start of last season, WVU was picked to finish 13th out of 16 teams in the Big 12 preseason media poll.

Those expectations seemed understandable after West Virginia squeaked past UMass on Nov. 8 and was blown out by Pittsburgh (86-62) a week later. Then Wednesday happened.

A 14.5-point underdog, WVU overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to force overtime when the star Tucker DeVriescoach’s son, pulled off a clutch steal and hit two free throws with 5.9 seconds left. The Mountaineers controlled the action in the extra frame thanks to the play of DeVries and Javon little onewho left for 31 points.

Like Pat Kelsey, Darian DeVries went into immediate rebuilding mode when he got the WVU job. He only brought back forward Ofri Naveh from last year’s team and added 12 new scholarship players.

Chief among the new additions was his son, Tucker, a two-time Missouri Valley Conference player of the year. At 6’7 with a solid frame, DeVries is one of the better offensive players Louisville will face this season. He has tremendous range and is an accurate shooter from deep both off the bounce and off screens. He is a skilled shot creator and playmaker for others himself, but his defense against elite competition is suspect.

Small was the leading scorer at Oklahoma State and an addition DeVries needed to have if he hoped to be competitive in the Big 12 in his first season. The 6’3 fifth-year point guard has been an extra throughout his college career. He currently leads WVU in scoring (15.0 ppg), assists (4.0 apg), steals (3.0 spg) and three-point field goal percentage (43.5%).

One player Louisville likely won’t see on Thursday is Jayden Stonewho averaged 20.8 ppg last season at Detroit-Mercy. He hasn’t seen the floor so far this season due to “nagging injuries,” and Darian DeVries referred to his status as “day-to-day” entering the tournament.

Illinois transfer Amani Hansberry is an undersized five at 6’8, but his versatility on the offensive end makes him a difficult matchup for most bigs. He’ll shoot the three if left open, but even after a 3-for-8 performance from deep Wednesday, it’s a shot Louisville would probably rather see him attempt than one around the rim. He’s arguably the team’s best defender and only true consistent interior presence, even though he’s a 6’11 senior Eduardo Andre is a capable reserve.

West Virginia’s statistical profile is essentially “good, not great” across the board. Like Louisville, they shoot the three a ton (more than all but 15 teams in the country), and they hit at a respectable 35.5 percent clip (109th in the country). They’re good, not great inside the arc – 121st in the country. They’re good, not great at getting to the free throw line – 175th in the country. And they’re good, not good at taking care of the basketball — 147th in the nation in turnover percentage.

Despite not having a ton of size, the area where West Virginia has been strongest this season has been interior defense. They rank 8th in the country in block percentage and 9th in 2-point defense. Those numbers make it even stranger that they’ve been an average rebounding team at best so far.

So far this season, West Virginia has largely gone the way of Small and DeVries. Pitt has been the only team to keep the high-scoring duo in check, and the Panthers ran away with a 24-point victory.

One notable thing that Louisville should have going into this game is extra rest and superior depth. West Virginia played later in the day Wednesday, they were forced to play five extra minutes of overtime and they used their bench less than the Cardinals did. Three different Mountaineers – Small, DeVries and the sophomore guard Sencire Harris (another Illinois transfer) – all played 42 minutes in the win over Gonzaga. Only three WVU players came off the bench, and only one of them was a talented freshman Jonathan Powellplayed more than eight minutes.

Remarkable:

– In its history, Louisville has 31 regular-season tournament championships. The Cardinals had lost five consecutive regular-season tournament games before Wednesday’s win over Indiana.

—Louisville has a 7-2 record in Battle 4 Atlantis and is 5-2 in tournament games played in the Bahamas. The Cardinals made the championship game in both of their previous appearances: U of L lost to Duke in the 2012 title game and to Baylor in the 2016 title game.

—Louisville has 11 players who were on teams that played in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The roster has made a total of 14 NCAA Division I Tournament appearances at their former schools, playing in 20 NCAA Tournament games across their careers.

-Against Indiana, Louisville’s 23 assists were its most since they had 23 in a 90-66 win against Syracuse on Feb. 19, 2020. The 15 steals were their most since 15 in a 77-54 win over Georgia Tech on February 8, 2018.

-West Virginia is 45-16 in regular season tournaments since 2007.

– This is the Mountaineers’ first appearance in The Battle 4 Atlantis and their first regular season games ever played in the Bahamas.

—Louisville is 2-0 all-time in neutral-site games against West Virginia.

—West Virginia is the only team in the country to have two players on the same team who averaged more than 20 points per game. game from last season – Tucker DeVries (21.6 ppg) and Jayden Stone (20.8 ppg).

—Before the overtime win over no. 3 Gonzaga had WVU lose six straight overtime games.

-West Virginia is 202-55 against non-conference opponents in regular season games over the last 21 seasons.

—WVU has won 158 of its last 179 and 214 of its last 242 games when holding opponents to fewer than 69 points.

-West Virginia is 10-2 all-time in games played on November 28th.

-West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries’ teams are 71-2 when scoring 80 or more points and 135-16 when scoring 70 or more.

—Louisville has a 255-80 record against non-conference opponents over the past 23 seasons (including postseason).

— The winner of Battle 4 Atlantis has won the NCAA Championship on two occasions: the Villanova Wildcats in 2017-18 and the Virginia Cavaliers in 2018-19.

-Louisville is 222-15 over the last 21 seasons and 3-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points.

-Louisville is 14-0 over the past 10 seasons when he has limited opponents to no more than one three-point field goal.

— Since 2004, Louisville is 130-0 when leading by more than 10 points at halftime.

-Louisville is 115-0 all-time when scoring 100 or more points in non-overtime games.

-Louisville has won 163 straight games when holding an opponent under 50 points.

Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Louisville 75, West Virginia 72