West Virginia’s Carter hopes to make smooth transition to point

In a conference that has some pretty good guards, West Virginia sophomore Jevon Carter is hoping to be mentioned with the Big 12's elite.

There's Oklahoma's Buddy Hield. There's Texas' Isaiah Taylor, Iowa State's Deonte Burton, Kansas' Frank Mason and Oklahoma State's Phil Forte. Carter is trying to put himself in the discussion.

Not only has Carter improved his scoring, he's one of the better defensive guards in the conference and leads the Mountaineers in assists and steals as he makes the transition from off-guard to the point.

"It's about learning and getting better," said Carter, whose 14.5 scoring average is second on the team to Devin Williams' 18.0. "If I do what I'm supposed to, the honors will take care of itself."

Carter scored 13 points Thursday at the Orleans Arena in a 67-59 win over Richmond as West Virginia improved to 5-0 and advanced to today's championship game of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational. The Mountaineers will play the winner of the California-San Diego State at 7:30 p.m.

"It's not easy what he's trying to do," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins of Carter's move to the point. "But he's working at it and he always gives you a great effort."

Richmond (3-2) was trying to contain Carter and not let him dominate. Spiders coach Chris Mooney said it was successful to a point.

"He does so many things well," Mooney said. "By keying on him, it gave Williams more room to operate inside, and he hurt us."

Williams, who tied his career high with 23 points Thursday, said with Richmond looking to shut Carter down, it opened up things for him down low.

"I was able to go inside and we adjusted to what they were doing," he said. "But (Carter) is so important for us. He's got great intensity and great knowledge of the game. He's passionate in what he does."

Carter wasn't going to allow any sophomore jinx to creep into his game after a successful freshman campaign which saw him lead West Virginia with 67 steals and average 8.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists. He and Huggins sat down after the season and came up with a strategy to keep his development headed in the right direction.

"We put a lot of work in over the summer," Carter said. "Shooting drills. Ball-handling drills. Footwork. Decision-making. Everything.

"When (fall) practice started I could see the difference. It's all about having confidence."

Carter also had a very good mentor during his freshman season in former all-conference guard Juwan Staten. Not only was Staten able to lead by example on the floor, he was able to help Carter adjust to college life and life playing for Huggins, who is as demanding a coach as there is in college basketball.

"His main message to me was 'stay focused on the game,' " Carter said. "He also told me to listen to what Coach says and don't argue with him."

Huggins said Carter can be special, just like Staten, who is playing in the NBA Development League for the Santa Cruz Warriors.

"He's got the ability and the knowledge," Huggins said. "It's only his second year, so there's plenty of room for him to grow and develop. But he's giving us good leadership and he does a lot of things well."

Carter was not a preseason all-Big 12 selection. But he could earn such accolades after the season if he can help make the Mountaineers contenders. West Virginia was selected sixth in the preseason poll.

"It's about doing what we do," Carter said. "We've got a lot of talented guys. I'm just one part of it."

Richmond, which never led and trailed by as many as 12 in the first half, got as close as 56-54 with 2:13 to play. But the Spiders had a tough day at the free-throw line, making 21 of 35 attempts.

"They're tough to score against so when you get free ones and you don't take advantage of it, it's going to cost you," Mooney said.

Little Rock 54, East Carolina 46 — The Trojans rallied from an 11-point deficit, held the Pirates to just 25 percent shooting from the floor in the second half and got 13 points from Marcus Johnson to improve to 4-0. East Carolina (2-3), which committed 22 turnovers, was led by B.J. Tyson with 12 points.

— Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj