By Wendell Barnhouse
Big12Sports.com Correspondent
West Virginia’s opponent in its second-round game in the NCAA Midwest Regional is Buffalo – officially the State University of New York at Buffalo. The school is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance.
The fifth-seeded Mountaineers represent a program with a rich March Madness pedigree. But it has missed the NCAA tourney the last two seasons and has one player on its roster that has played in an NCAA game – senior guard Gary Browne.
“I told the guys that this is what you’ve worked for,” said Browne, who was a freshman on the WVU team that lost in the first round to Gonzaga the year before West Virginia joined the Big 12. “It’s the best experience you can possibly get out of your career — if you make it something special. You don’t want to take it for granted.
My freshman year, we lost in the first round, but I had three more years, and I thought, ‘We’re going to make it happen.’ But look what happened. We didn’t make it back the next two years.”
Buffalo won the Mid-American Conference tournament and automatic bid. The Bulls are coached by former Duke All-American guard Bobby Hurley, who played on two national championship teams for the Blue Devils.
“They’re really good,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “They play the way (Hurley) did, compete really hard. They take really good care of the ball. They play without any fear. They played Kentucky in Lexington and played Wisconsin in Madison. They won’t be in awe of anybody.”
In recent NCAA Tournaments, the No. 12 seed has pulled several upsets over No. 5 seeds. As soon as the bracket was announced Sunday night, many experts on CBS and ESPN were jumping on the Buffalo-over-West Virginia bandwagon.
Even President Obama, fulfilling his annual duties of filling out a bracket on ESPN, picked the Bulls over the Mountaineers.
“They’re a good basketball team,” Huggins said of Buffalo, “but here’s a news flash for all those people: So are we.”
Midwest Regional
1:10 p.m. Friday, Columbus, Ohio
No. 5 West Virginia (23-9) vs. No. 12 Buffalo (23-9)
Mountaineers update: West Virginia expects to have senior guards Juwan Staten and Gary Browne back. Both have missed the last four games with leg injuries. The Mountaineers press more than any team in the country but with Staten and Browne out, they’ve had to press less. Opponents are averaging 7 fewer turnovers and West Virginia has 4 fewer steals per game over the last four games. Bob Huggins has coached in 21 NCAA Tournaments; only four active coaches have made more appearances. WVU’s 23 wins are the most since the 2009-10 Final Four team finished 31-7.
Bulls update: Buffalo has a seven-player rotation, so foul trouble and depth could be issues against West Virginia. Sophomore Shannon Evans and freshman Lamonte Bearden both share the point guard duties so that could be an advantage against the Mountaineers’ press. Buffalo is 24th in scoring at 74.2 points per game. Justin Moss, a 6-7, 245-pound junior forward, leads the team in scoring (18.3 per game) and rebounding (9.3). Forward Xavier Ford is the only senior starter. The Bulls played at two No. 1 seeds, losing by 19 at Kentucky and by eight at Wisconsin. Buffalo led at Kentucky at halftime.
What’s next: Winner plays on Saturday against the winner of No. 4 Maryland and No. 13 Valparaiso.