West Virginia disappointed in No. 2 seed in NCAA Tournament

Just when the West Virginia men's basketball team thought it had earned nationwide respect, it gets fooled again.

One day after winning the Big East Conference Championship, the Mountaineers will enter the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed in the East Region and face Morgan State Friday in Buffalo, N.Y., although WVU head coach Bob Huggins said his team qualified to be a No. 1 seed.

Tip-off is set for 12:15 p.m.

"Statistically, I thought we were a one seed," Huggins said. "The disappointing thing is when they say ‘we look at the full body of work.' If you look at the full body of work, we were probably a one-seed.

"I didn't think we'd be a one-seed, I thought we'd be a two. But to be the third two seed, I don't understand that."

Kentucky earned the No. 1 seed in the East Region and will face East Tennessee State in New Orleans Thursday.

Kansas, Syracuse and Duke also earned No. 1 seeds. Villanova and Kansas State were both picked over WVU as No. 2 seeds, while Ohio State was the final No. 2 seed.

"It's a respect type of issue. You feel you're kind of getting snubbed a little bit because you've done everything you were suppose to," said WVU senior Wellington Smith. "But then again, we've been in this position before and we've performed admirably. So we just have to keep doing what we're doing. We're the only ones that can stop us."

Morgan State will be making its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance after beating South Carolina State 68-61 for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship Saturday. The Bears finished 26-9 and enter having won their last seven games dating back to Feb. 22.

Huggins coached against MSU head coach Todd Bozeman when he was the head coach at Cal from 1992-96.

"I know Todd Bozeman very well, but that's about it," Huggins said when asked of his knowledge of the Bears. "His teams have always played multiple defenses."

If the Mountaineers can get by the Bears, they will advance to play the winner of Clemson and Missouri Sunday. If WVU continues to advance, it could face Big East foe Marquette or New Mexico in the Sweet 16.

"In the second round, we're going to have to handle the press, which we've done a pretty good job of as of late," Huggins said of Clemson and Missouri's tendencies. "That being said, if we handle the pressure we can score. Every time people have spread the floor against us, we've scored points."

The Mountaineers will be making their third straight appearance under Huggins, who earned his 18th tournament berth. West Virginia was upset by Dayton in the first round last season.

The No. 2 seed is WVU's highest-ever seeding in the NCAA Tournament with its previous high being No. 5 in 1982.

"It doesn't surprise us," said forward Devin Ebanks of WVU's seeding. "All year we really haven't gotten the respect I think we should have. But obviously being Big East Champions, we've learned how to overcome that."