Rush The Court

Evan Jacoby is an RTC contributor and correspondent. You can find him @evanjacoby on Twitter. He filed this report after St. John’s’ win over West Virginia on Wednesday. 

“Where would we be without No. 5?,” asked West Virginia coach Bob Huggins after his team got throttled by St. John’s on Wednesday night. “What do you think our record would be without him? He’s been the most valuable player in the country.” Coach Huggins posed a legitimate question during post-game of his team’s worst performance of the season in which the Mountaineers came into Madison Square Garden as seven-point favorites and left with a 16-point loss. In the 78-62 defeat, West Virginia’s offensive deficiencies were exposed and the team’s guards were thoroughly outplayed on both ends of the floor. And despite it all, forward Kevin Jones still put up gaudy numbers – 26 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks on 48% shooting – that have become the norm for this superstar senior. The fact that Jones has completely dominated this season and led the Mountaineers to a Top 25-worthy resume is remarkable considering the team’s lack of other playmakers on the roster. The Big East leader in scoring and rebounding, Jones should get a long look as a first-team All-American.

Wednesday’s loss showed how limited the Mountaineers are offensively, especially from the perimeter. St. John’s played a 2-3 zone defense all game that focused on packing the paint, which left room for open shots from the outside. West Virginia took those outside opportunities, but had no confidence in their shooting and finished 5-22 from three-point range, and an extremely poor 35.4% from the floor as a whole. Starting guards Truck Bryant and Jabarie Hinds combined to shoot 7-25 on the night and reserve guard Gary Browne did not score in 14 minutes of play. While his teammates fell into the trap of the St. John’s game plan, Kevin Jones was not at all affected and continued battling, playing all 40 minutes of the game and recording another monster double-double.

“He’s playing with all these freshmen who can’t pass,” Huggins said about Jones after the game. “The numbers that he gets are pretty good when they can’t pass him the ball.” Huggins was certainly not happy after the loss and it probably won’t help the confidence of his young players that he called them out for their ineptitude. But he speaks the truth in the fact that his senior doesn’t get a ton of help from his guards. Jones averages a conference-leading 20.9 PPG and 11.6 RPG, and he works his tail off for every point and every board. In the process, the Mountaineers have exceeded expectations and sit at 15-6 on the season with a 5-3 Big East record that’s good for fourth in the conference. Even after the horrible loss on Wednesday, the Mountaineers are still in good position for a solid NCAA Tournament seed and they have Jones’ constant effort and production to thank.

Not only does he fill up the stat sheet, but Jones is also constantly affecting the game in ways that don’t reach the box score. On a free throw miss by his own team in the first half, Jones crashed the boards and forced Moe Harkless, a terrific rebounder, to struggle with the catch and knock it out of bounds for the Mountaineers to retain possession. A few minutes later, St. John’s guard Phil Greene beat his man offensively and got to the rim with ease before Jones came from the weak side and challenged the shot, forcing a missed layup.

The Red Storm deserve all the credit for the dominant victory on Wednesday, as they implemented the zone defense from the opening tip that keyed on eliminating easy buckets and forced the Mountaineers to make shots from the outside. Coach Mike Dunlap let his young guys play freely in this game, and it resulted in a fast-paced, efficient offensive output. In fact, St. John’s started five freshmen in this game, which marked the first time in 85 years that the program had a lineup of all rookies. Led by the dynamite frosh duo of Harkless (23 points, 11 rebounds) and D’Angelo Harrison (19 points), St. John’s was constantly on the attack and produced its third-highest scoring output of the season.

Wednesday’s game proved that the young Red Storm may actually have a more talented roster than the No. 23 Mountaineers. But the West Virginia loss should not deter Kevin Jones’ chance for an All-American spot, not when he still found a way to put up 26 points and 14 rebounds and keep his team in a game where nobody else came to play. Jones is not a guy that will ‘wow’ you with his athleticism, and he’s seemingly been around forever, so perhaps he gets overlooked when it comes to the best forwards in the country. Players like Anthony Davis of Kentucky, Thomas Robinson of Kansas, and John Henson of North Carolina have much more flash to their game that makes them the more frequented names when discussing first-team All-Americans. And while each of those players has been outstanding this season, the senior in Morgantown needs to be neck and neck in that discussion. Kevin Jones is top 10 in the nation in both scoring and rebounding, and this fiery competitor will let his production speak for itself when it comes to stating his case to be recognized as one of college basketball’s finest forwards.