Bob Huggins praises scoring effort from Jimmy Bell
West Virginia got some tremendous outings from a few individuals in its 80-77 win over Auburn on Saturday, including a strong scoring effort from Jimmy Bell Jr.
Bell scored 15 points in the win over Tigers, just three shy of his best outing this season.
“See I always thought he Jimmy could score down low,” coach Bob Huggins said after the game. “It was other people who said he’s not going to be able to score for you.”
Bell scored 15 points for the second time in the last four games, so the senior is starting to put things together at the right time. In addition to his 15 points, Bell also contributed seven rebounds and three steals.
He wasn’t the focal point of the offense — that was guard Eric Stevenson with a 31-point outing — but he provided some nice balance.
Huggins deadpanned when asked about his ability to score from the low post.
“When you’ve got a body like that and you’ve got shoulders that wide, all you’re got to do is be able to look at the rim and you’re going to be able to score some points,” Huggins said dryly. “I think the biggest problem that the majority of bigs have is they never look where they’re shooting. They’re too busy looking at where the defender is or where they are on the floor or whatever instead of putting their eyes on the rim. There’s a big damn square up there, and if you put it in that square it will go in.”
West Virginia gets a big resume win
If there was ever a time for West Virginia to spring a win over one of the SEC’s best teams, with the aid of a strong scoring effort from Jimmy Bell, this was it.
In the latest bracketology released by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, West Virginia was one of the teams fighting on the bubble to make the NCAA Tournament field.
Lunardi had the Mountaineers in the field, checking in as the second team in the “Last Four In” category. Following Saturday’s win over Auburn, West Virginia can probably pencil itself in a little more firmly … for now.