# 2007–08 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team

The 2007–08 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team represented West Virginia University in the 2007-08 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by Bob Huggins and played their home games in the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia. It completed the season 26–11 (11–7 in the Big East) and lost to Xavier 79–75 (in overtime) in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2008 NCAA tournament. West Virginia finished the season ranked #17.

## Roster

| Name | Number | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown |
| Joe Alexander | 11 | F | 6-8 | 225 | Junior | Mount Airy, Maryland |
| Jarrett Brown | 31 | G | 6-4 | 220 | Sophomore | West Palm Beach, Florida |
| Da'Sean Butler | 1 | F | 6-7 | 225 | Sophomore | Newark, New Jersey |
| John Flowers | 41 | F | 6-7 | 195 | Freshman | Waldorf, Maryland |
| Joe Mazzulla | 3 | G | 6-2 | 210 | Sophomore | Johnston, Rhode Island |
| Darris Nichols | 14 | G | 6-3 | 200 | Senior | Radford, Virginia |
| Cameron Payne | 25 | G | 6-4 | 200 | Freshman | Charleston, West Virginia |
| Alex Ruoff | 22 | G | 6-6 | 215 | Junior | Spring Hill, Florida |
| Jamie Smalligan | 43 | C | 7-0 | 265 | Senior | East Grand Rapids, Michigan |
| Wellington Smith | 35 | F | 6-7 | 215 | Sophomore | Summit, New Jersey |
| Josh Sowards | 21 | F | 6-7 | 205 | Sophomore | Scott Depot, West Virginia |
| Ted Talkington | 32 | G | 6-2 | 200 | Junior | New Martinsville, West Virginia |
| Will Thomas | 24 | G | 6-5 | 205 | Freshman | East Cleveland, Ohio |
| Cam Thoroughman | 2 | F | 6-7 | 215 | Freshman | Portsmouth, Ohio |
| Jonnie West | 4 | G | 6-3 | 175 | Freshman | Memphis, Tennessee |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 16, 2007* 8:00 pm | | Arkansas Monticello | W 81–53 | 1–0 | WVU Coliseum (8,371) Morgantown, WV |
| November 18, 2007* 3:00 pm | | Prairie View A&M | W 106–41 | 2–0 | WVU Coliseum (5,933) Morgantown, WV |
| November 23, 2007* 9:00 pm, Versus | | vs. No. 7 Tennessee Legends Classic | L 72–74 | 2–1 | Prudential Center (5,310) Newark, NJ |
| November 24, 2007* 4:30 pm | | vs. New Mexico State Legends Classic | W 75–61 | 3–1 | Prudential Center (4,327) Newark, NJ |
| November 27, 2007* 7:00 pm | | Maryland Eastern Shore | W 110–44 | 4–1 | WVU Coliseum (5,630) Morgantown, WV |
| December 1, 2007* 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Winthrop | W 70–53 | 5–1 | WVU Coliseum (8,559) Morgantown, WV |
| December 5, 2007* 9:30 pm, ESPN2 | | at Auburn | W 88–59 | 6–1 | BJCC Arena (10,481) Birmingham, AL |
| December 8, 2007* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Duquesne | W 92–68 | 7–1 | WVU Coliseum (10,071) Morgantown, WV |
| December 15, 2007* 4:00 pm | | UMBC | W 86–62 | 8–1 | WVU Coliseum (7,026) Morgantown, WV |
| December 19, 2007* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | No. 24 | at Radford | W 90–60 | 9–1 | Dedmon Center (4,266) Radford, VA |
| December 22, 2007* 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | No. 24 | at Canisius | W 77–54 | 10–1 | HSBC Arena (3,699) Buffalo, NY |
| December 29, 2007* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 23 | Oklahoma | L 82–88 $^{2OT}$ | 10–2 | Charleston Civic Center (12,380) Charleston, WV |
| January 3, 2008 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Notre Dame | L 56–69 | 10–3 (0–1) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,327) Notre Dame, IN |
| January 6, 2008 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | No. 10 Marquette | W 79–64 | 11–3 (1–1) | WVU Coliseum (11,429) Morgantown, WV |
| January 10, 2008 7:00 pm, ESPN | | at Louisville | L 54–63 | 11–4 (1–2) | Freedom Hall (19,764) Louisville, KY |
| January 13, 2008 2:30 pm, ESPNU | | Syracuse | W 81–61 | 12–4 (2–2) | WVU Coliseum (13,560) Morgantown, WV |
| January 17, 2008 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | St. Johns | W 73–64 | 13–4 (3–2) | WVU Coliseum (13,047) Morgantown, WV |
| January 20, 2008 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at South Florida | W 69–52 | 14–4 (4–2) | St. Pete Times Forum (12,056) Tampa, FL |
| January 23, 2008* 8:00 pm, WV Media | | vs. Marshall | W 66–64 | 15–4 | Charleston Civic Center (12,580) Charleston, WV |
| January 26, 2008 7:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 9 Georgetown | L 57–58 | 15–5 (4–3) | WVU Coliseum (14,048) Morgantown, WV |
| January 30, 2008 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Cincinnati | L 39–62 | 15–6 (4–4) | WVU Coliseum (10,082) Morgantown, WV |
| February 2, 2008 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Providence | W 77–65 | 16–6 (5–4) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,993) Providence, RI |
| February 7, 2008 7:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 21 Pittsburgh Backyard Brawl | L 54–55 | 16–7 (5–5) | Petersen Events Center (12,508) Pittsburgh, PA |
| February 14, 2008 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Rutgers | W 81–63 | 17–7 (6–5) | WVU Coliseum (7,826) Morgantown, WV |
| February 17, 2008 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Seton Hall | W 89–68 | 18–7 (7–5) | WVU Coliseum (10,074) Morgantown, WV |
| February 20, 2008 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Villanova | L 56–78 | 18–8 (7–6) | The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA |
| February 23, 2008 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Providence | W 80–53 | 19–8 (8–6) | WVU Coliseum (11,319) Morgantown, WV |
| February 27, 2008 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at DePaul | W 85–73 | 20–8 (9–6) | Allstate Arena (8,777) Rosemont, IL |
| March 1, 2008 12:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at No. 15 Connecticut | L 71–79 | 20–9 (9–7) | XL Center (16,294) Hartford, CT |
| March 3, 2008 7:00 pm, ESPN | | Pittsburgh Backyard Brawl | W 76–62 | 21–9 (10–7) | WVU Coliseum (13,960) Morgantown, WV |
| March 8, 2008 12:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at St. John's | W 83–74 $^{OT}$ | 22–9 (11–7) | Madison Square Garden (7,363) New York, NY |
| Big East tournament ||||||
| March 12, 2008 2:00 pm, ESPN | | vs. Providence First Round | W 58–53 | 23–9 | Madison Square Garden (19,562) New York, NY |
| March 13, 2008 2:00 pm, ESPN | | vs. No. 15 Connecticut Quarterfinals | W 78–72 | 24–9 | Madison Square Garden (19,562) New York, NY |
| March 14, 2008 7:00 pm, ESPN | | vs. No. 9 Georgetown Semifinals | L 55–72 | 24–10 | Madison Square Garden (19,562) New York, NY |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 20, 2008* 9:50 pm, CBS | (7) | vs. (10) Arizona First Round | W 75–65 | 25–10 | Verizon Center (18,400) Washington, D.C. |
| March 22, 2008* 2:10 pm, CBS | (7) | vs. (2) No. 9 Duke Second Round | W 73–67 | 26–10 | Verizon Center (20,533) Washington, D.C. |
| March 27, 2008* 7:10 pm, CBS | (7) | vs. (3) Xavier Sweet Sixteen | L 75–79 $^{OT}$ | 26–11 | US Airways Center (18,103) Phoenix, AZ |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from Coaches' Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Standings

| Big East | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall |
| Big East | W-L | GB | PCT | W-L | PCT |
| #8 Georgetown | 15-3 | - | .833 | 27-5 | .844 |
| #15 Notre Dame | 14-4 | 1 | .778 | 24-7 | .774 |
| #13 Louisville | 14-4 | 1 | .778 | 24-8 | .750 |
| #17 Connecticut | 13-5 | 2 | .722 | 24-8 | .750 |
| #25 Marquette | 11-7 | 4 | .611 | 24-9 | .727 |
| West Virginia | 11-7 | 4 | .611 | 24-10 | .706 |
| Pittsburgh | 10-8 | 5 | .556 | 26-9 | .743 |
| Villanova | 9-9 | 6 | .500 | 20-12 | .625 |
| Syracuse | 9-9 | 6 | .500 | 19-13 | .594 |
| Cincinnati | 8-10 | 7 | .444 | 13-18 | .419 |
| Seton Hall | 7-11 | 8 | .389 | 17-15 | .531 |
| Providence | 6-12 | 9 | .333 | 15-16 | .484 |
| DePaul | 6-12 | 9 | .333 | 11-19 | .367 |
| St. John's | 5-13 | 10 | .278 | 11-19 | .367 |
| South Florida | 3-15 | 12 | .167 | 12-19 | .387 |
| Rutgers | 3-15 | 12 | .167 | 11-20 | .355 |