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West Virginia-Portland Preview

Nov 29, 2009 - 7:11 PM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

West Virginia (4-0) at Portland (5-0), 10:00 p.m. EDT

As the highest ranked team in the field, West Virginia was expected to reach the finals of the 76 Classic. Its title-game opponent was not.

The eighth-ranked Mountaineers look to remain perfect when they face upstart Portland for the tournament championship Sunday night in Anaheim, Calif.

One of four ranked schools in the tournament field, West Virginia (4-0) avoided an upset and reached the championship game with an 85-62 rout of Long Beach State in Thursday's opener and a 73-66 win over Texas A&M on Friday.

The Mountaineers haven't won an in-season tournament since the 2001 Hispanic College Fund Classic in New Mexico.

Portland (5-0), meanwhile, is the surprise of the event after a 74-47 rout of an inexperienced UCLA team on Thursday and a 61-56 victory over No. 22 Minnesota in Friday's semifinals.

With 12 players back from last season's 19-13 squad, Portland is considered a team that could possibly unseat Gonzaga as the top team in the West Coast Conference. The Pilots are off to their best start since opening 6-0 in 1995-96.

"We're on a great journey," Portland coach Eric Reveno said. "I told (the players) that I thought I wrote a great practice plan. But I can't make up anything to duplicate the experience of the last couple of nights."

Though Portland has knocked off three straight quality programs, starting with an 88-81 win over Oregon on Nov. 1, its biggest test awaits in its first meeting with West Virginia. The Mountaineers are shooting 47.0 percent, holding opponents to 59.5 points per contest and finally have their best player back on the court.

Still, coach Bob Huggins is not satisfied.

"We're not near where we need to be," he said. "We've got to have five guys doing the same thing."

Da'Sean Butler scored 17 points and sophomore Devin Ebanks added 14 with nine rebounds in his season debut against Texas A&M.

The 6-foot-7 Butler averages a team-leading 16.3 points per contest, and the return of Ebanks makes West Virginia much tougher to handle.

An all-Big East rookie selection as a freshman, Ebanks missed West Virginia's first three games due to undisclosed personal reasons. He went 4 for 6 from the field in 29 minutes Friday as the Mountaineers shot 51.1 percent, including 61.9 in the second half.

"He's still a little rusty," Huggins said of the 6-9 Ebanks, who averaged 10.5 points and 7.8 rebounds last season. "We still have to get the rust off him. It's nice to have him back, that's for sure."

Though West Virginia presents an even bigger challenge with Ebanks, Portland held UCLA and Minnesota to 51.5 points and 33.0 percent shooting in the tournament.

"We worked hard to get here and it kind of chokes me up," Reveno said. "There's been so much blood, sweat and tears with this team. Their discipline, commitment and trust in our staff and selves is great to see."

T.J. Campbell scored a season-high 23 points, while Robin Smeulders added 13 and Nik Raivio grabbed a season-best 11 rebounds against Minnesota.

Campbell, a senior guard, is averaging a team-leading 18.0 points and 4.8 assists.

Portland, which has won two of its last three games against Top 25 opponents, has lost seven in a row versus teams ranked in the Top 10 since the start of the 2000-01 season.