Three Key Stats to West Virginia Making a Run in the NCAA Tournament

Could the Mountaineers stun the nation?

West Virginia makes its return to the NCAA Tournament tomorrow afternoon in Birmingham with a first-round matchup against No. 8 seed Maryland. How do the Mountaineers ensure that their stay in the big dance lasts through the first weekend and beyond? Here's how they need to do it.

Get to the free throw line early and often

West Virginia ranks third out of the 68 tournament teams in free throw attempts per game (22.8), trailing only Texas A&M (25.3) and Alabama (22.9). Over the last five games, this has been a big part of their wins AND losses. In their three wins, WVU averaged 21.6 free throw attempts while in the two losses, that number is nearly cut in half to 12.5.

This may not be as big of a factor in their first game against Maryland, which ranks 137th nationally in this statistical category, but it will be a very important number to watch in a potential second-round matchup with No. 1 seed Alabama, who already possesses an explosive offense led by the best player in college basketball, Brandon Miller.

Hit the magic number from three

It hasn't been a trend all year, but I noticed one stat that has been a theme over the last 14 games for West Virginia pertaining to the three-ball. When the Mountaineers make seven or more threes in a game, they are 9-1 during that stretch. When they fail to reach that mark, they are 1-4. 

Both Maryland and Alabama have done an exceptional job defending the perimeter this season, sitting inside the top 20 in the country by each allowing just 5.5 made threes per game. This is where key No. 1 will loom large if they happen to fall short of that magic No. 7. WVU only got to the line 14 times against Kansas in their two-point road loss - a game in which they made six threes. A couple more trips to the line could have done the trick.

Erik Stevenson gets hot and stays hot

How could I do this article without mentioning WVU's best offensive threat? If Stevenson catches fire early on, he could help propel the Mountaineers to the Sweet Sixteen. Obviously, you would like to see a balanced offense so that everything doesn't come down to how one guy performs on that end of the floor, but the more he scores, the chances of winning improve significantly. When he scores less than 10 points, West Virginia is 4-5. When he scores 15+, they are 12-6. At 20+, they are 7-2. And if he gets 30 or more, WVU is a perfect 2-0.

You can follow us for future coverage by liking us on Facebook & following us on Twitter:

Facebook - @MountaineersNow

Twitter - @MountaineersNow and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_.