Other Stories:

MORGANTOWN, W.VA.-The West Virginia Mountaineers have become used to winning in tournaments. They usually do so by having senior Da'Sean Butler lead the way in scoring and have a few other players support with rebounding, tough defense, and a helping scoring effort. The Mountaineers' opening round victory in the NCAA tournament over Morgan State did not follow that formula. Instead, they relied on two players who have never won a tournament game before.

 

Kevin Jones and Devin Ebanks have been an important part of the West Virginia offense all season, but have never really been the focal point. Ebanks always plays strong defense and leads the team in rebounds, as well as averaging 12 points per game. Kevin Jones is the team's offensive rebounding leader, with 120 on the season, and averages 13 points per game. Both contribute, and the Mountaineers wouldn't win without them, but Butler remains the lynch pin of the offense. They've both played in only one NCAA tournament game, last year's 68-60 loss to Dayton in the opening round, but both made a name for themselves in their first game in the tournament.

 

After WVU's horrendous start to the game, Ebanks chipped in four points and Kevin Jones went on a 9-0 run by himself. The two sophomores scored 13 straight to get WVU right back in the game.

 

“I felt in the beginning I wasn’t being aggressive enough,” Jones said after the game. “I had to go and still play team basketball, but just be a little more aggressive. I mean, my shots were falling. I was just in one of those zones and I’m glad that it worked out for my team and it got us back in the game."

 

By the time the Mountaineers had officially buried Morgan State 77-50, Jones had only missed two shots and Devin Ebanks had another double double, his seventh of the season. Jones finished with 17 points and eight rebounds and was an amazing 8-of-10 shooting from the floor. Ebanks dropped in 16 points and 12 rebounds and was perfect from the free throw line. The usual go to man, Da'Sean Butler, finished with only nine points and seven rebounds. While that is a respectable stat line, the last few games have been Butler's show. While Truck Bryant may be experiencing a bit of a sophomore slump, Ebanks and Jones are playing their best game.

“People like Kevin and Devin, when they smell blood, they go out there and just keep going, they keep attacking. For them to get a tournament win now, it’s kind of reminiscent of when we got ours in my sophomore year. It kind of encourages you to keep going and just keep pushing and I’ve got a feeling they’ll do the same thing," Butler said. "Thank goodness for Kevin and Devin knocking down shots and rebounding. They got in there and mixed it up, so this victory definitely goes to them.”

 

"Kevin is the perfect example of student-athlete. He works hard on and off the court. he put a lot of time in the summer. Now it's paying off," Ebanks said of his fellow sophomore teammate. "It paid off for him all season. That's why I think he has produced the way he had. We need his strong play the rest of the this year for us to make a deep run."

 

Ebanks is no slouch on the court either and he seems to thrive in the tournament environment. He was a stud in this year's BIG EAST Tournament Championship run and last year in the Mountaineers loss to Dayton, he had a double double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. He said he used last year's game as motivation to help the Mountaineers get back into the game against Morgan State.

 

"I kind of thought about the Dayton game too from last year. It started off 10 points to zero and I was just trying to get it going with my teammates. Let's go. Can't have another close game. We have to step on their throats. During the game we stepped it up and broke it out to a big lead

 

Jones has really come into his own this year. Last season he scored in double figures only eight times and in his only NCAA tournament game he only had one point. This season he has score double figures in all but six games and was the Mountaineers' high scorer against Morgan State. He has been the most consistent scorer for WVU and has been the high scorer in seven games this season, but doesn't really have the offense run through him. Because everyone knows who Da'Sean Butler is, he may be one of the best kept secrets in the BIG EAST, but he will get a chance to become a nationally known player in this tournament.

 

"Da’Sean is definitely our offensive leader and when he’s struggling everybody just looks around like ‘Who else are we going to go to now?’ I’m glad I could be that person and I just felt like I was in the zone and all my shots were falling for me, my teammates were finding me in some great spots so I’m glad I could knock down the shots for them," Jones told the media. "It feels great to win your first game in the tournament. Now hopefully it goes on to the next hopefully five games and hopefully we come out with an NCAA championship."

 

The Mountaineers will face Mizzou Sunday with tip off scheduled for 2:40 pm. The Tigers know that Butler is always a threat, but you can bet Missouri will know that Devin Ebanks and Kevin Jones are not going through a sophomore slump.