--This one really surprised me. I didn't think it was a sure fire win by any means, but I really expected West Virginia to go down to Orlando and play better than they did in this one. The Knights led this game from start to finish and while there were some things we can pick at such as the officiating it was more of the same for West Virginia on offense with not running offense or moving the ball in the first half and UCF getting some easy buckets in transition and off rebounds. The Mountaineers simply outscored Kansas Saturday, but in this one they shot only 36-percent from the floor and were outrebounded by 9. That's not a good formula.
--West Virginia allowed 18 points off turnovers as many of the miscues, especially early led to layups and easy baskets on the other end. It's one thing to turn it over, it's another thing to give it to the team for easy baskets. The Mountaineers only had 11 turnovers in this one but they were costly. The defense actually wasn't all that bad when they could get it set, but UCF used their defense to turn it into offense especially in the first half. The Knights had a 24-6 edge in fast break points.
--Yes, UCF is a good defensive team and 10 of those turnovers were steals but West Virginia has to be better with the basketball.
--The officiating in this game simply wasn't consistent. RaeQuan Battle has to be smarter than to get two technical fouls, but it's hard not to understand how that was boiling with how he was quite literally shoulder checked after his dunk and nothing was called. The Knights shot 25 free throws in this game, while the Mountaineers shot just 10. That discrepancy has been a bad sign for this team when they can't get points at the line.
--West Virginia did hold UCF to just 26 points in the paint but were never really able to get over the hump. Even in the second half this team rallied they were never able to get it within striking distance to really make it interesting. The first half played a big role in that.
--Thought the ball movement was really bad in the first half, but things got better in the second and West Virginia was able to hit some open shots. Too much one on one at times early in this game and it led to bad or completely challenged looks, while the Mountaineers had 9 of their 14 assists in the second.
--Josiah Harris hit some big shots in this one and at least tried to make things interesting in the second half. He had 15 total points and 8 rebounds, the only player on the roster to get over 4, and had 12 of those points in the second half. It was definitely a change from the previous game where he played just two minutes and perhaps this is what he needs to help him turn the corner with his shot which just hasn't been falling for him until tonight.
--Noah Farrakhan has some serious explosion and can get to the basket with ease at times, but finishing has been a problem. Still, really like his overall game and in this one he finished with 9 points and 3 rebounds and 3 assists, while finishing at +6 overall, the highest mark on the team. Now, all he needs to do is put the ball in the basket when he gets there because if he makes just a few more that 3-10 looks a whole lot different.
--Rough one for Patrick Suemnick who had some difficult assignments on defense and just couldn't get his shot to fall tonight. He had been shooting 60-percent from the field but was 0-6 and didn't score a single point while turning the ball over 3 times. He also fouled out.
--Onto the next one which is a trip to Oklahoma State. This was a splash of cold water on the Kansas high and the Mountaineers are now at 7-12, 2-4 in the league. The climb is becoming quite difficult at this stage if this team has any real aspirations for post-season play at all but they've just got to stack one at a time. You can't get this one back so the only option is to look forward and regroup.
--West Virginia allowed 18 points off turnovers as many of the miscues, especially early led to layups and easy baskets on the other end. It's one thing to turn it over, it's another thing to give it to the team for easy baskets. The Mountaineers only had 11 turnovers in this one but they were costly. The defense actually wasn't all that bad when they could get it set, but UCF used their defense to turn it into offense especially in the first half. The Knights had a 24-6 edge in fast break points.
--Yes, UCF is a good defensive team and 10 of those turnovers were steals but West Virginia has to be better with the basketball.
--The officiating in this game simply wasn't consistent. RaeQuan Battle has to be smarter than to get two technical fouls, but it's hard not to understand how that was boiling with how he was quite literally shoulder checked after his dunk and nothing was called. The Knights shot 25 free throws in this game, while the Mountaineers shot just 10. That discrepancy has been a bad sign for this team when they can't get points at the line.
--West Virginia did hold UCF to just 26 points in the paint but were never really able to get over the hump. Even in the second half this team rallied they were never able to get it within striking distance to really make it interesting. The first half played a big role in that.
--Thought the ball movement was really bad in the first half, but things got better in the second and West Virginia was able to hit some open shots. Too much one on one at times early in this game and it led to bad or completely challenged looks, while the Mountaineers had 9 of their 14 assists in the second.
--Josiah Harris hit some big shots in this one and at least tried to make things interesting in the second half. He had 15 total points and 8 rebounds, the only player on the roster to get over 4, and had 12 of those points in the second half. It was definitely a change from the previous game where he played just two minutes and perhaps this is what he needs to help him turn the corner with his shot which just hasn't been falling for him until tonight.
--Noah Farrakhan has some serious explosion and can get to the basket with ease at times, but finishing has been a problem. Still, really like his overall game and in this one he finished with 9 points and 3 rebounds and 3 assists, while finishing at +6 overall, the highest mark on the team. Now, all he needs to do is put the ball in the basket when he gets there because if he makes just a few more that 3-10 looks a whole lot different.
--Rough one for Patrick Suemnick who had some difficult assignments on defense and just couldn't get his shot to fall tonight. He had been shooting 60-percent from the field but was 0-6 and didn't score a single point while turning the ball over 3 times. He also fouled out.
--Onto the next one which is a trip to Oklahoma State. This was a splash of cold water on the Kansas high and the Mountaineers are now at 7-12, 2-4 in the league. The climb is becoming quite difficult at this stage if this team has any real aspirations for post-season play at all but they've just got to stack one at a time. You can't get this one back so the only option is to look forward and regroup.
