ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥

MORGANTOWN ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” If you don't know the history, West Virginia's journey to Birmingham, Alabama, for a 5 p.m. Saturday meeting with UAB in the Legacy Arena at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, an off-campus site but certainly not expected to be a friendly site to the Mountaineers, makes no sense.

With Christmas break looming and with Big 12 ready to begin along with the new year, why would a Power 5 team travel to face a dangerous opponent?

There's reasons, to be sure, and the first is not to see what the Mountaineers will do in a hostile environment for the first time this season, although that is something that will play into the outcome.

See, this game grew out of a friendship between Mountaineer coach Bob Huggins and UAB coach Andy Kennedy, a friendship that went back to when Huggins was head coach at Cincinnati and Kennedy one of his assistants.

Kennedy, in fact, replaced Huggins when he left Cincinnati, then moved on to Ole Miss, where he won 20 games in 11 of his 14 seasons there. Huggins, however, did beat him both times they played.

Why take this game ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” even with a later return game to face Huggins and the Mountaineers in Morgantown?

"Because he asked me," Huggins said. "I have over the years ... why did I go to Youngstown to play Jarod Calhoun? Because he was a very good assistant for me. A.K. was terrific. We played him. He played Frank (Martin). We went to Kansas to play him (at Kansas State). My assistants, if they ask me to play, we'll play."

It's the kind of loyalty upon which Huggins was raised, to say nothing of the fact that he and Kennedy and Martin do like hanging out together and can be seen out on the clinic and scouting trail both at the gyms and in more social atmospheres, telling tall stories of their adventures.

Games like this aren't easy to schedule and there was some work that went into putting together these two games, just as it has with Calhoun and Youngstown State, who is the last non-conference match up for WVU this year in Morgantown before conference play.

"I told him I didn't want to play on campus," Huggins said.

True road games in campus gyms can be death traps for big-time teams, as Huggins has learned the hard way.

"I have terrible memories of playing there." Huggins said. "We were No. 1 in the country and went in there and I'm telling you what, if those guys weren't on the take, it was unbelievable."

He was, of course, talking of people on the court, not in the stands, but not playing the game but having a huge effect on its outcome.

In fact, Huggins caught a big break in scheduling this game, for it will be played while the UAB football team is playing a bowl game, which probably will take most of the biggest Blazer rooters out of the stands.

"Just a bad break," Huggins joked.

But this game is no joking matter, for this is a team that was 22-7 last year under Kennedy with a roster filled with transfers.

What's more, UAB ranks ahead of West Virginia in the NCAA's new NET rankings, standing 33rd while WVU is at No. 56.

West Virginia brings a 9-1 record into the game, riding Taz Sherman's scoring and a strong defense that is giving up only 60 points a game.

Of course, they will face an offensive challenge against Kennedy's UAB team.

"We'll probably see every defense invented. He'll try everything. He's probably invented some in his sleep," Huggins said. "He'll put a guy over the ball, he'll probably run a triangle and two and put one guy on Taz and one on Sean (McNeil). He'll play 1-2-2, he'll play 2-3,

"It could be anything. He likes changing up. I think he does it because when he was a player he didn't guard at all."

UAB is 9-2 and is led by Jordan Walker, a former Seton Hall player who also played at Tulane before transferring in. Just 5-11 and 170 pounds, Walker averages 16.4 points per game.

The game can be seen on CBS Sports Net.