MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia got a surprise Sunday when it was chosen as a No. 5 seed in the East Regional of the NCAA Tournament.
"A lot of people said 6, but I didn't see why we wouldn't be a 5," senior point guard Joe Mazzulla said. "We've played well down the stretch."
On Thursday in Tampa, Fla., the Mountaineers will face the winner of a play-in game Tuesday matching UAB and Clemson -- a disappointing situation for coach Bob Huggins.
"This is all a little new to me," he said of the new format that includes four first-round matchups to trim the field to 64. "It takes away a day of preparation. ... It would seem to me, if you're going to play somebody like that, that we would play on Friday."
The players said not knowing who they will play isn't a disadvantage.
"It will take our opponent's mind off us, and we'll totally focus on two teams and do what we need to do," junior forward Kevin Jones said. "They'll have a game under their belt, and they'll be ready, but I think the way everybody has been focusing in practice, we'll be prepared."
Jones said the team has come together since Wednesday's loss to Marquette in the second round of the Big East Tournament. After having what he called the team's two worst practices of the season before that game, West Virginia enters the NCAA Tournament with a new mentality.
"We know that it's going to come down to a play or two, so we're going to use those experiences to our advantage,"Mazzulla said.
A record 11 Big East teams made the tournament, which Jones said shows the strength of the conference. No league ever had garnered more than eight bids.
"That's a big number," he said. "That just shows why the Big East is the best conference in the country. We're going to try to be good representatives of the Big East and play our hearts out in this tournament."
UAB (22-8) is coming off a 75-70 loss to East Carolina in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Tournament. UAB was the regular-season champion in its conference but wasn't widely expected to earn an at-large bid. The Blazers have four players who average more than 9.0 points, led by senior guard Jamarr Sanders at 17.7.
Clemson (21-11) surrendered a large lead to lose, 92-87, in overtime to North Carolina in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. Clemson has six players who average at least 7.8 points, topped by senior guard Demontez Stitt at 14.7.
If the Mountaineers advance, they could have a rematch with Kentucky, the team they beat to advance to the Final Four last season. The fourth-seeded Wildcats open against No. 13 seed Princeton.
"I got a text from (Kentucky coach John Calipari) right before the selection show that said, 'You know we're going to play each other again,' " Huggins said. "I didn't think there was any chance. ... We should probably be playing a little later in the tournament."
Scouting Clemson
Record: 21-11, 9-7 ACC
Coach: Brad Brownell (first season)
Best win: Beat Boston College (RPI 58), 70-47, in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.
Worst loss: Lost to Virginia (RPI 141), 49-47, on Feb. 2.
Strength: The Tigers are 15th in the nation in scoring defense, giving up an average of just 60.4 points.
Weakness: Clemson has struggled at times offensively, ranking 189th in scoring average (68.3 ppg).
Player to watch: Demontez Stitt, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound senior guard, scores a team-leading 14.7 points per game and is hitting 36.4 percent of his 3-point attempts. He was named to the All-ACC third team and All-ACC Tournament first team.
Notable
» Clemson is making its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, but it's the team's first under Brownell, who took over for current DePaul coach Oliver Purnell.
» Clemson's most successful NCAA Tournament run came in 1980, the first year it earned a spot in the event. The Tigers won three games and reached the Elite Eight.
» Clemson lost three games to North Carolina this season, including Saturday's 92-87 overtime loss in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
Alabama-Birmingham
Scouting UAB
Record: 22-8, 12-4 Conference USA
Coach: Mike Davis (fifth season)
Best win: Beat Virginia Commonwealth (RPI 49), 68-65, on Dec. 21.
Worst loss: Lost to Arizona State (RPI 162), 69-66, on Nov. 20.
Strength: The University of Alabama at Birmingham is 111th in the country in assists per game (13.7).
Weakness: Blazers lost to every BCS conference opponent it played outside of Arkansas, which fired its coach Sunday.
Player to watch: Aaron Johnson, a 5-foot-8, 185-pound point guard, was named the Conference USA Player of the Year after averaging 12 points and 7.7 assists.
Notable
» This is the second time under Davis that UAB has made the NCAA Tournament. The team also made the tournament in 2006 in Davis' first year.
» ohnson leads the country in assists per game (7.7).
» Guard Jamarr Sanders leads the Blazers in scoring (17.7 ppg).
