BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Georgetown @ West Virginia

Last year these two teams met and it was the end of a good run for one team and the start of a new beginning for the other. Georgetown had just defeated West Virginia 67-60 to move to 8-3 in the Big East (16-6) overall) while the loss dropped West Virginia to 4-7 in the conference and 14-8 overall. Georgetown lost their last five conference games and played out the string in the NIT while West Virginia won four of five remaining on the conference slate, made a run to the Big East Tournament championship game with three wins at Madison Square Garden and lost a berth in the Final Four in an overtime loss to Louisville in the Elite 8. Not too many people could have predicted such different fortunes for the two teams after that February 12th game of last season.

They meet again tonight, this time in Morgantown, for their first of two meetings in the Big East regular season. Both teams are off to 2-0 starts in the conference with Georgetown beating Providence at home and St. John's on the road while West Virginia won at South Florida and are coming off Sunday's big win at Villanova.

The Mountaineers open up as 5.5-pt favorites tonight against the Hoyas and at first glance, this looks to be a low number. However, Georgetown is a team that can match-up with Mountaineers because of their added versatility on offense and defense. Their normal line-up consists of Jonathan Wallace at the point with Ashanti Cook and Brandon Bowman at the wing positions and Jeff Green and 7'2 Roy Hibbers at the C position. Georgetown can very easily move Darrell Owens into the line-up and go smaller with Jeff Green defending WVU's 6'10 perimeter threat Kevin Pittsnogle and will actually match-up very well man to man up and down the line-up with this line-up.

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This will leave a key match-up in this game to be Brandon Bowman and Mike Gansey. Bowman is off to a slower than anticipated start this year, averaging about 12 PPG and 5 rebounds, numbers that are down from last year. Gansey is off to a 1st-team all-conference start averaging 19 PPG, 5.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.5 steals a game. With Bowman and Green, the Hoyas should not be giving up too much to the stars of WVU at their respective positions, keeping the Hoyas right in this game.

Like WVU, Georgetown runs an offensive system that is tough to prepare for and it's success is largely based on their ability to hit from the 3-pt range. Neither team is really prone to high turnovers, but the Hoyas have gone through stretches where they can go cold from the field and turn it over. Each team is not particularly deep, with WVU predominately a 7-man rotation, with five seniors and the Hoyas also using a 7-man line-up, with three seniors, three sophomores and a freshmen (Jesse Sapp).

I feel this game will be a close game with Georgetown right in it from the beginning until the end. West Virginia might be a tad flat coming off their big win, but a rabid home crowd welcoming their Mountaineers back from the road should snap any cobwebs out of their heads. Their experience and ability to make shots at the end and not beat themselves will prevail tonight in a typical Big East tilt.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

West Virginia 69 Georgetown 66

Let's see your preditions in the comments section!