BUFFALO — They call West Virginia “Press Virginia” for a reason. They try to ambush you, rattle you, dispirit you, make you panic and they are as desperate as Notre Dame is to reach the Sweet 16.
“We’ve kind of compared them to Florida State a little bit,” Irish point guard Matt Farrell said. “Being in the passing lanes, contesting full-court pressure. I think theirs is a little more havoc I would say, or reckless, you got guys everywhere. So we just need to stay poised with the ball. We need guys to be receivers. Everybody that’s on the floor needs to be a receiver. We need to be strong with the ball.”
Press Virginia will take your heart along with the basketball.
“They do a great job of forcing people out of their comfort zone,” Steve Vasturia said. “I think their defense creates and turns it over to their offense … so I think for us the challenge is just going to be making sure, making the right decisions and not rushing.”
The Irish are notoriously expert ball-handlers, and remember, coach Mike Brey considers Farrell better than former Duke legend Bobby Hurley,
“We like to not turn the ball over, be strong with the ball, and I think playing teams like Florida State and Louisville had really helped us prepare for games like this,” Notre Dame forward Bonzie Colson said.
Brey pointed out the Irish committed 18 turnovers against Florida State in Tallahassee.
“We’re not the fastest,” Brey said. “If you look at our pace, we have been kind of a situational running team. I think what we do is we’ve gotten to do a good job when we don’t have numbers in transition, we kind of back that thing out and make you guard us for a while. And we’re going to have to be disciplined with that. Now that’s easier said than done because they’re really good in the halfcourt.”
Given the Irish protect the ball as if it were a bar of gold rather than soap, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins was asked if this might be a bad matchup for his team.
“They don’t let us pick,” Huggins said. “If you’re asking me would we have picked them, absolutely not. I don’t know if it is or it isn’t. I guess that’s why you play. We’re going to try to do the same thing to them that they do to us. We’re going to try to create numbers in the halfcourt, and we’re going to try to take transition when it’s there.”
Farrell’s matchup with Jevon Carter will be telling.
“He can play off the ball as well as he can play on the ball,” Huggins said.
Brey applauded Farrell’s emergence after sitting behind Demetrius Jackson and Jerian Grant.
“I think his ability to play fearlessly and make plays off the ball screen, and then his ability to score and make shots, makes him unbelievably valuable to us,” Brey said.
Never more than Saturday.
“It’s gonna be another fun game in March,” Farrell said.