Published: January 17, 2008 12:18 am      

WVU win streaks on line vs. St. John’s

MORGANTOWN — The West Virginia University men’s basketball team puts a couple of winning streaks on the line Thursday against Big East rival St. John’s at the Coliseum.

The Mountaineers have a 14-game home winning streak, extending back to the last six games of 2006-07. They are seeking a seventh straight victory over St. John’s Red Storm in a series WVU leads by 16-15.

Tip-off time is 7 p.m., with ESPN Plus televising the action. Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh will carry the game regionally. Some tickets remain available.

West Virginia’s football squad will be honored during the halftime intermission. Representatives of the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl will present the trophy to the Mountaineers, who upset No. 3 Oklahoma 48-28 on Jan. 2.

They captured a share of the Big East championship and finished with an 11-2 record and ranked No. 6 in the two major media polls.

West Virginia’s basketball team has a 12-4 record, including 2-2 in the Big East. St. John’s is struggling at 7-8 and 1-3.

Bob Huggins, WVU’s first-year head coach, said on Wednesday that Jarrett Brown, the No. 2 quarterback on the football team, will be in basketball uniform for the first time. The 6-4, 220-pound sophomore wants to play a second sport as he did in high school.

He has practiced just two times since being cleared by head football coach Bill Stewart to join the basketball squad.

“No question, he’s going to get a chance to play,” Huggins said. “But there is so much to learn in basketball as he’ll tell you.

“I don’t know how quickly he can learn the system. But I like him. I like him a lot.”

Brown may or may not play against St. John’s.

Huggins said the keys for his team are rebounding and defense. He noted that the Red Storm has a bunch of big players and do an outstanding job on the boards.

“I think they’re really a solid team,” he added. “I thought they played extremely hard against Connecticut defensively.”

Alex Ruoff, 6-6 junior guard, leads the WVU attack with 16.6 point per game. Joe Alexander, 6-8 junior, is scoring at a 15.9 clip and also is the top rebounder at 6.1 per game.

Da’Sean Butler, 6-7 sophomore, is averaging 12.4 ppg, and Darris Nichols, 6-3 senior playmaker, 10.0 ppg. Jamie Smalligan, 7-0 center, rounds up the starting cast.

Huggins has never coached against St. John’s previously. Norm Roberts is 0-4 against WVU as the Red Storm coach.

His probable starting lineup:

Justin Burrell 12-8, 7.7; Anthony Mason Jr. 11.9, 3.4; Tomas Jasiulionis 3.0, 2.5; Eugene Lawrence 9.7, 2.9; and D.J. Kennedy 9.2, 7.2.

Burrell is 6-8, Mason 6-7, Jasiulionis 6-11, Lawrence 6-1, and Kennedy 6-6

After playing St. John’s, the Mountaineers move on to Tampa for a game Sunday against South Florida.