The schedule-makers of the Mountain East Conference sure didn't allow the University of Charleston and West Virginia State men's basketball teams to ease their way out of the holiday break.
The Golden Eagles and Yellow Jackets get both Wheeling Jesuit and West Liberty this week. UC hosts Jesuit at 7:30 p.m. today and West Liberty at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, both at the Civic Center. State visits the Hilltoppers at 7:30 p.m. today and the Cardinals at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
It's no big deal, just that Jesuit (10-1, 3-1 MEC) is second in the MEC standings and WLU (10-0, 4-0 MEC) is No. 1 in both the conference standings and the national top-25 rankings.
"We've got to find a way to be at the top of our game in a short turnaround time," UC coach Dwaine Osborne said.
Charleston (6-4, 3-1, MEC) and West Virginia State (4-5, 2-2 MEC) ended the first leg of their respective seasons in different conditions. UC charged into the break winning its last four games. State limped into its break, losing four of five.
The Golden Eagles, still the MEC's top scoring (70.9 points allowed per game) and field goal percentage (40.8 percent shooting allowed) defense, has improved its offense over the past four games. After not scoring 80 in any of its first six contests, Charleston has scored at least 91 in three of its last four. UC's accuracy improved in that final stretch, too. In those four wins, Charleston shot 53.8 percent from the floor. The Golden Eagles shot just 41.1 percent in their first six games.
Osborne said much of that had to do with his players becoming more comfortable in the motion offense the team installed in the offseason. Comfort, he said, has bred confidence.
"It's 100 percent better," Osborne said. "It doesn't matter if they're new or returning. These guys are getting more and more confident and there's a lot of progress in them making their reads better. The more people that can do that, the better we can be."
State has struggled on defense during its slump. After allowing 78.3 points per game in their first four, where they went 3-1, the Yellow Jackets allowed 91.2 points per game in their last five. One of WVSU coach Bryan Poore's concerns over the holiday break was whether his team would return in the proper condition. The team hasn't played since its Dec. 13 loss to Bowie State. State had originally scheduled to play Washington Adventist between then and Monday, but that school had to cancel.
Playing pickup games at open gyms back home aren't the same as the rigors of conference competition. Poore wanted his players to get some work in over the break, and it was evident when they returned that they listened to him.
"I kind of threatened them," Poore said. "I told them that, when they came back on Dec. 28, we were going to do some shooting drills and run. So if you want to die and puke and everything else for the next two weeks. They were better than I thought they were going to be, but still not in as good of shape as when we left."
Both the Golden Eagles and Yellow Jackets must be ready to run against the Hilltoppers, whose breakneck pace and scorching-hot shooting hands - WLU is third in Division II shooting 51.9 percent from the floor - have them averaging a staggering 110 points per game. The next closest is Lincoln Memorial at 98.4 points per game.
"Everybody focuses on 3-pointers with West Liberty," Poore said. "What really kills you is when they get layups by you overextending your defense or when they get those long rebounds that turn into layup putbacks. Those can really break your back, because when you get them to miss a 3, you've got to finish your defense and get the rebound."
Jesuit also likes to push the pace - the Cardinals shoot 50.5 percent from the floor and average 85.5 points per game - but Osborne sees a different style from them than he sees from West Liberty. The Cardinals are a pugnacious group, one that sits third in the MEC allowing just 75.2 points per game and first with a plus-8.5 rebound margin.
"Wheeling Jesuit really plays tough," Osborne said. "They're a hard-nosed team. They really take after their coach [Danny Sancomb] with that."
Both teams understand the task ahead of them this week. West Virginia State would like to use these next games as their opportunity to rebound from a flat finish to 2015. That, Poole said, will take some time as a roster full of newcomers jells. Of State's top eight scorers, only two were on last year's roster.
"Our guys understand that we're still a work in progress and we're nowhere close to where we think we can be or where we're going to be," Poore said. "We've got so many new faces and freshman guards playing major minutes. I'm just telling the guys to trust the process and keep going through it and working every day to get better."
Osborne would like to see the progress Charleston has made offensively continue into the new year. If he can pair that with UC's stingy defense, the Golden Eagles have the opportunity to climb the MEC rankings.
"If we shoot the ball well, we have a chance to be successful in any game we play," he said. "I think we guard well enough that we have a good chance if we just shoot it well."