Holton set for return as No. 10 West Virginia hosts TCU

For the last two weeks, West Virginia has played without its top offensive rebounder and primary pinpoint pressure-man on defense.

Head coach Bob Huggins initially suspended forward Jon Holton for violating team rules on January 28. The punishment lasted exactly fourteen days.

Without Holton, West Virginia went 2-2 in four games.

Holton practiced Thursday for the first time since the suspension was lifted.

He will return to game action this afternoon when No. 10 West Virginia (19-5, 8-3) hosts TCU (11-13, 2-9) in Morgantown at the Coliseum. In seven meetings all-time between the two schools, the Mountaineers have never lost to the Horned Frogs.

“During those games, I noticed (Jon) Holton missing the most with the press defense,” West Virginia guard Tarik Phillip said. “When you press with only two guards compared to a guard and then a six-foot-seven dude with a seven-foot-one wingspan, you notice it.”

Before Holton was suspended, he led the team in deflections and was fifth on the squad in steals. With Holton holding down the top of the patented press defense, West Virginia turned opponents over 19.8 times per game through the first 20 this season. Minus Holton, in the last four games, West Virginia only turned its opponents over 13.7 times per game.

At times, during the four-game stretch of Holton’s suspension, West Virginia actually backed off its press.

Huggins says the team can now return to use its tenacious style beginning today against TCU, using its full court pressure in every minute of every game again.

What Huggins is unsure about is how he will construct his starting lineup. While West Virginia missed Holton’s defense, it gained another scorer in Nate Adrian. Elevated from role player to starter, Adrian averaged 8.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Adrian is also shooting 80-percent from three-point range in the last five games.

“I think Nate (Adrian) has played extremely well and so whichever way we go, it’ll make us better,” Huggins said.

“It isn’t a bad thing to have Nate or Jon (Holton) coming in with Tarik (Phillip), Jaysean (Paige) and Elijah (Macon), so whichever way we go, it’ll help us.”

Paige leads the team scoring while averaging 14.2 points per game. He gets help from starting forward Devin Williams, who tallied double figure scoring totals in all four games while Holton was suspended.

Williams will have a difficult task against the size and strength of TCU. Under head coach Trent Johnson, TCU boasts four forwards – Vladimir Broadziansky, Brandon Parrish, Chris Washburn and Karviar Shepherd – all scoring more than eight points per game.

“They have a bunch of good forwards. (Chris) Washburn has played well for them,” Huggins said. “They (TCU) still want to play inside out.”

With a win, West Virginia guarantees it will sit in a two-way tie atop the Big 12 standings with either Kansas or Oklahoma. Currently, the three teams are in three-way lock for first place. Kansas play at Oklahoma later today.

Tipoff between West Virginia and TCU is set for noon.