The first half of the game showed the casual basketball fan what Big East Basketball is all about. Physical play up and down the court for 20 minutes. The two teams nearly came to blows a couple times. In the second half, a Wellington Smith spike jump started a 21-4 second half run to throw Providence off their game.

The Mountaineers played like fighting pit-bulls with the sought-after NCAA Tournament bid on the line as they beatdown the Providence Friars 81-53 in a rematch from three weeks ago. Joe Alexander overcame early foul trouble to lead the team with 21 points, 17 of them in the second half. The Rainmaker Alex Ruoff overcame a rough shooting night against Nova to score 14 points. Smith set the tone throughout the game to score 10 points with 5 rebounds and 3 blocks.

WVU got off to a rough start as they were down 8-4 with two fouls against Alexander in the first four minutes of the game. The refs started to dictate the pace of the game which angered the Coliseum crowd. Providence at one point were up 15-12 when WVU woke up and made a 13-1 run capped off by Ruoff’s lay-up to give the Eers a 25-16 with 5:56 remaining. The Mounties failed to build the lead further as the refs continue to let the rugby style play continue. As a result, Providence cut the lead to six at 33-27 at the end of the first half.

Providence came out physical once more as they cut down the lead to two at 33-31 with 18:39 left. That’s as close as they got as Joe Alexander scored six points, including a two-handed flush, as part of a 9-2 run to give the Eers a 42-33 lead. The Friars tried to keep pace but the Smith spike that led to a John Flowers three-pointer to give the Eers the biggest lead of the night at 53-38 with less than 12 minutes remaining. The Friars seemed to be worn down and it showed as the Mountaineers would built on that lead through Joe Mazzulla and Alexander combining to make 8 of 10 foul shots. The Rainmaker’s three capped another spurt and gave the Mountaineers a huge 68-42.

Despite the big lead, Mazzulla keep mixing it up with the Friars. It aggravated them some much that on one of the Friars free throw tries burly big man Geoff McDermott, who was the Maniac favorite target, threw down Mazzulla. I guess that was what Mazzulla wanted all along. McDermott ended up with 9 points and 8 rebounds but committed 6 turnovers and was 3 of 8 shooting. The reserves came it to play at the end. The NBA logo’s son Johnnie showed his quickness as he scored a couple of lay-ups. To cap off the best halves of the year, Scott Depot native Josh Sowards drained a 25-footer as time expired. In all WVU out-scored the Friars 48-26 in the second half.

West Virginia now scores an 18-8 record, not including a win over Division II Arkansas-Monticello, with an 8-6 Big East record. That gives them a tie for Cincinnati for sixth place in the Big East. It’s now or never for them next week. They must either beat DePaul this Wednesday night in the burbs of Chi-Town or upset the hot and heavy UCONN Huskies next Saturday afternoon. Proving you can win on the road consistently to the committee will go a long way to get the that sought after bid. Go get them EERS. I don’t want to see them defend the NIT title DO YOU?