WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. (AP) – The undefeated high-flying West Liberty Hilltoppers are averaging nearly three points a minute and have soared to the top of Division II college basketball under coach Jim Crutchfield.
Up tempo play meets organized chaos when West Liberty takes the court.
The Hilltoppers are 23-0, averaging 118 points per game and have held the No. 1 ranking in Division II for more than a month.
There have only been two close games as the Hilltoppers put up video game-like statistics.
“It has been crazy in the sense that we’ve had so many games that we managed to put opponents away early this year,” said Crutchfield, 55.
The tiny school squeezed between Pittsburgh and Columbus, Ohio, in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle with a student enrollment of 2,600 is creating quite a buzz.
That’ll happen when you score nearly 120 points a game. But Crutchfield and his players say they don’t run up the score.
“When (Crutchfield) puts the bench in for the last 10 minutes and they’re making their shots, what are they supposed to do?” said Barry Shetzer, West Liberty’s leading scorer at 17.6 points per game. “They’re not just going to hold the ball. They’re going to practice and try to get better for next year. They’re going to play up tempo, whether they press or not.”
Crutchfield, who’s 165-39 in seven seasons, said he has yet to hear a complaint from opponents.
“I think the coaches we play against, they understand,” he said. “Most coaches have been generous. They say ‘thanks for calling off the dogs.”’
The scorefests start with the Hilltoppers’ frenetic, pickpocket defense.
“It’s full-court pressure, try to deny the inbounds pass. Trap,” said Corey Pelle, West Liberty’s second-leading scorer at 16.6 points per game. “The teams that have been close in the first half, usually by the second half they’re too tired.”
Rather than having one true star, six Hilltoppers are averaging in double figures. Seven have scored at least 21 points in a game. No player has led the team in scoring more than twice in a row.
A deep lineup allows the Hilltoppers to keep the throttle going. As many as 12 players have scored in a game and the reserves combine for 46 points a contest.
“I’m glad sometimes I’m on the bench,” Pelle said. “You need your rest if you want to play here. I don’t know if you can play a full 40 minutes.”
In addition to scoring and scoring margin (37.0), West Liberty leads the nation in seven other team statistical categories.
Even opponents with solid defenses haven’t figured out how to slow down the Hilltoppers.
Northern Kentucky (19-5) allows just 65 points per game and is the Hilltoppers’ only opponent ranked in the top 40 in scoring defense. The Norse lost to West Liberty 109-91 on the road.
“We never established a game pace and they did, and that’s why they’re a great team,” Northern Kentucky coach Dave Bezold said Tuesday. “They were able to get us into their pace and not ours.”
And it is an exercise in futility to try an outscore West Liberty.
Pitt-Johnstown, fourth nationally in scoring at nearly 88 points per game, couldn’t keep up. West Liberty jumped ahead 51-28 at halftime and won 100-66.
In the season-opening 154-48 win over Lock Haven, Pa., West Liberty had nine players in double figures and another with nine points.
Two nights later, eight players were in double digits in a 157-89 win over Point Park.
A circus act? Hardly.
“That implies it’s not disciplined,” said Concord coach Steve Cox, whose team gave up 149 and 133 points in two losses to West Liberty this season.
“It’s just not completely every man for himself,” Cox said. “They come down and they look for each other and they hit the open man. They just play well together. Their offensive numbers look like somebody is making this stuff up.”
As a team West Liberty is shooting 53 percent from the floor, including 44 percent of its 3-pointers. They attempt 37 3-pointers per game, many of those open looks are the result of the Hilltoppers’ 15 steals per game.
“Their defense is a big part of it and they want a lot of possessions,” Cox said.
In two of the three games West Liberty didn’t hit the century mark, the Hilltoppers barely escaped with a win.
A last-second 3-point try by rival Wheeling Jesuit bounced twice off the rim but didn’t go in and West Liberty escaped with an 86-84 road win. A week later, two free throws by Tim Hausfeld with 3 seconds left lifted West Liberty over Fairmont State 99-98.
The Hilltoppers and Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. (23-0) are the remaining unbeaten teams in Division II. West Liberty’s 118-point average is 30 points higher than the nearest Division II team, Valdosta State.
Crutchfield insists he’s never mentioned scoring to his players. Points are a byproduct of aggressive play, he said.
He’ll need to squeeze a few more points out of his team to eclipse the Division II scoring record of 121.1 points set in 1992 by Troy.
All this has generated packed gyms wherever the Hilltoppers play.
“There’s a lot of people that would die to score 120 points,” Pelle said. “Obviously, it’s a blast.”
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