WVU's first Big East title within reach

NEW YORK – West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins has told his team all season to find a way to be special.

The Mountaineers finally have their chance.

In only the program's second conference championship appearance, No. 7 WVU will take on Georgetown Saturday in search of its first Big East Conference title.

Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.

"If you want to be special, you have to do special things. This is an opportunity for us to do something special in the Big East," said senior Da'Sean Butler. "It would mean the world to me."

The Mountaineers only other appearance in the championship game was in 2005 when it lost 68-59 to Syracuse.

"We know that this would be the school's first time getting (a Big East title)," said forward Devin Ebanks. "So we're just trying to win it for the people back home. We want to win it and bring it back home to them."

The Hoyas enter Saturday's game riding momentum it has built after beating Marquette 80-57 Friday and upsetting No. 1 Syracuse in the Big East quarterfinals a day earlier.

The Mountaineers beat Georgetown 81-68 in Morgantown March 1, but the Hoyas were without the services of leading scorer Austin Freeman, who missed the game will an illness which eventually ended in a diagnosis of diabetes.

Freeman will play Saturday, however, and has averaged 10 points in Georgetown's two tournament games and is shooting 8-of-21 from the field.

"They didn't change anything, it was just a matter of personnel," point guard Joe Mazzulla said of Freeman's absence in the two teams' earlier meeting. "We have to know where he is at all times.

"He's a great player and a vital part of their offense."

Georgetown's undisputable leader, however, is center Greg Monroe. The senior has shot 16-of-29 from the field in the tournament including 21 rebounds.

He nearly missed a triple-double against the Golden Eagles Friday, finishing with 23 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. He scored 22 points and grabbed nine boards in the two team's meeting earlier this season.

"If he's not scoring, he's going to get his teammates involved," said WVU forward Kevin Jones. "He's a skilled low-post player so you have to get physical with him. It's all about hustle and effort."

West Virginia has never beaten Georgetown in a Big East Tournament game in two opportunities. The two teams last matched up in the conference tournament in 2008 with the Hoyas exiting with a 72-55 victory.

brian.gawthrop@mail.wvu.edu