INDIANAPOLIS – After the buzzer sounded in West Virginia’s 84-67 victory over Morehead State in the first round of the NCAA tournament, coaches and players surrounded Bob Huggins and gave “Huggy Bear” all the bear hugs.
Huggins, 67, won his 900th career game Friday to become the sixth Division I men’s basketball coach to hit the milestone (at least 10 seasons in Div. I). He joins Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Jim Calhoun, Roy Williams and Bob Knight under Div. I coach with 900 victories.
Huggins will take on Boeheim on Sunday when West Virginia, the number 3 seed in the Midwest Region, plays number 11 seed Syracuse, which defeated San Diego State 78-62 on Friday.
“I love those guys, and I am delighted that they can be a part of it,” said Huggins of his players. “They enjoy it a lot more than I do, but that’s pretty neat. If they have something to look back on and share with anyone, then hopefully it’s one of the positive things that has happened in their athletic career. It took long enough. It took us three games to finally get there. “
West Virginia dropped the last two games before the NCAA tournament, both to Oklahoma State, so Huggins had to wait until Friday to reach number 900. The Mountaineers opened the game with a 17-6 run, falling behind halfway through the first half. before controlling the game for most of the last 13 minutes.
Sophomore security guard Miles McBride scored 30 points in his career on 11-of-17 shots and had six assists in 36 minutes. Three other WVU players scored in double digits, including forward Derek Culver, who overcame a difficult first half to finish with 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
“That he can be here to take that 900th win means a lot, so I’m very happy we got it done today,” said McBride.
Huggins added: “That was their topic of conversation. It wasn’t mine – it was theirs, which tells you what kind of guys they are. We have really good guys.”
Now in his 39th season, Huggins first became head coach in 1980 at Walsh College, an NAIA program at the time now known as Walsh University, winning 71 games in three seasons. He then moved to Akron, where he made his first NCAA tournament in 1986.
Huggins spent 16 seasons in Cincinnati, leading the Bearcats to the 1992 Final Four and 14 consecutive NCAA tournaments. He spent a season in Kansas State before arriving in West Virginia, his alma mater. Huggins guided WVU to a Final Four in 2010, four other Sweet Sixteen appearances and 10 trips to the NCAA tournament.
He is 900-381 as a head coach with 25 NCAA tournaments and a record of 34-24 in the event.