Breaking the Press: West Virginia's Keys to Beating Missouri

After starting the game down 10-0, the West Virginia Mountaineers rallied back and cruised to a 77-50 victory over the Morgan State Bears in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

West Virginia faces the Missouri Tigers— who defeated the Clemson Tigers 86-78— in a second round game in the East Region of the NCAA tournament.

After a strong Big East Tournament where he was named tournament MVP, Da'Sean Butler struggled, scoring just nine points on 4-11 from the field. While West Virginia did not struggle with Morgan State, they have this year when Butler does not play well.

In previous years, he averaged 19 points and shot nearly 49 percent from the field in the NCAA Tournament. For West Virginia to go far in the NCAA tournament, Butler will have to continue his strong play from the NCAA tournament. In 4 of West Virginia's 6 losses, Butler failed to hit his season average of 17 points.

As Butler goes, so do the Mountaineers.

The biggest problem for West Virginia will be breaking Missouri's press defense. Missouri will press West Virginia all game, hoping to create turnovers. Missouri is second in the country in turnover margin, at 6.7 per game. This could give West Virginia problems as they have had shaky guard play this year.

Darryl "Truck" Bryant and Joe Mazzulla will be the keys to breaking the press. Bryant has been turnover prone at times this year, and played terrible in the Big East Tournament. He scored just two points in three games in the Tournament, and made several mistakes on the defensive end.

Mazzulla is finally healthy after missing most of last year with a shoulder injury, and playing this year still not at 100 percent. With Bryant not playing well, he played a most of the minutes at the point guard position in the Big East Tournament, and in the first game versus Morgan State. In those 4 games, he has averaged 6 points, 3 assists, and 0.75 turnovers

Also, Butler and Devin Ebanks are good ball-handlers for their size and will be able to help break the press by passing over the top of it.

Since West Virginia's game versus Cleveland State in the beginning of the year, they have been able to handle teams that have tried to press them. Louisville provides a good example.

Missouri comes into this game banged-up at the forward position. Starter Justin Safford has been out since the end of February with a torn ACL. Missouri is just 2-3 since he has been out. Laurence Bowers, who replaced Safford in the starting line-up, is playing with two torn wrist ligaments that will require surgery.

The biggest place West Virginia will have an advantage is on the glass. West Virginia comes into the game 9th in country in rebounding margin, outrebounding their opponent by an average of 6.8 per game. West Virginia averages 38 rebounds per game. Missouri is 266th in rebounding margin, getting outrebounded by 2.6 rebounds a game. They average 35 rebounds a game.

For West Virginia to advance to the Sweet Sixteen in Syracuse, NY, Da'Sean Butler has to continue his strong play from the Big East Tournament. Additionally, the Mountaineers must break Missouri's press and win the game on the glass.