West Virginia Mountaineers Clash with UMass Minutemen at MassMutual Center in Men's Basketball Showdown

As the West Virginia Mountaineers prepare to face off against the UMass Minutemen at the MassMutual Center, fans are buzzing with anticipation. The upcoming game, scheduled for a prime-time showdown, is expected to be a spectacle of skill and strategy.

The Mountaineers have shown resilience and adaptability in their recent games. On December 9th against Drexel Dragons, WVU demonstrated their offensive prowess by securing a win with 66 points over the Dragons' 60. Their field goal percentage was impressive at 48 percent, and they were particularly effective from beyond the arc, hitting 41 percent of their three-point attempts. This shooting efficiency could be crucial against UMass.

However, it wasn't just WVU's offense that shone; their defense was also on point. They managed to rack up five blocks and six steals while keeping personal fouls to a minimum with only ten fouls during the game. The ability to defend without fouling will be essential when they go up against an aggressive Minutemen team.

In contrast, on December 7th versus Pittsburgh Panthers, despite putting up a valiant effort in front of an energetic home crowd of over 12 thousand fans at WVU Coliseum, WVU fell short by just points (63-80). Their three-point shooting was lackluster that night at only 15 percent which might raise concerns about consistency from long range.

WVU's performance on December 2nd against St. John's Red Storm showed grit as they eked out a victory with a scoreline of 73-79 despite trailing in field goal percentage and having fewer assists than St. John’s who had an assists turnover ratio of 2.5 compared to WVU’s lower ratio of .6.

The key for West Virginia will be maintaining their defensive intensity while finding more consistency in their shooting touch from distance if they want to overcome UMass' challenge.

UMass has been no slouch either; they bring into this match-up their own set of strengths which could pose problems for WVU if not addressed properly by Coach Huggins’ squad.

Mountaineer fans should mark their calendars for this thrilling encounter scheduled on December 16th at MassMutual Center in Springfield MA starting at sharp pm EST (6:30 pm local time). For those unable to attend in person can catch all the action live on ESPNU channel . This is one game you won't want to miss as both teams battle it out on court!