-In his post-game press conference, Bob Huggins said that he hadn't lost any faith in Jevon Carter, even after benching Carter for the final 13 minutes of Tuesday's nights loss to Virginia at Madison Square and missing his first four shots of today's game against Louisiana-Monroe. Huggins said that he always sees Jevon Carter in the gym at the practice facility when he looks out his office window and that there's a correlation between players who continue to work hard throughout their struggles and eventual success. Huggins said at no point did he think about sitting Carter down today after his first four misses. Huggins says that he tends to give guys more of a leash that have been in the gym and that he wanted to allow Carter to make some, so keeping Carter in the game worked well today as Carter went onto score 21 points in the win.
-Huggins says one thing that he is a little bit concerned about is sluggish starts in the second half. He thinks the games in Morgantown especially have been a byproduct of being up by so many points and players wanting to rack up points on their own individual stat line. Huggins says that the team needs to come and just play like they do in the first half with great effort and a team mindset.
-West Virginia managed to shoot 41.7-percent from three-point range and made a season single-game high 15 three-pointers on Sunday evening. Huggins says the performance tonight was more similar to how he thought West Virginia would shoot the ball going into the year. Huggins referenced the Bahamas trip and said in the Bahamas, even though the competition wasn't the best that Carter, Daxter Miles and Tarik Phillip all shot the ball well. Huggins says that the players continue to shoot the ball well in practice, but that it just hasn't translated in the game. He thinks the team can continue to see more consistent performances from beyond the arc going forward.
-Carter was the game's biggest story line today considering the bounce back performance he was able to have against the Warhawks. After the game Carter said that he completely understood why and couldn't blame Huggins for taking him out of the game on Tuesday in the loss to Virginia. Carter said that actually would have done the same exact thing that Huggins did because of the poor decision made the court to throw a behind-the-back pass when he had a wide open layup against the Cavaliers. Carter even went as far to say that, "Coach Huggins is a legend" and he and Huggins both had the mindset of a clean slate heading into today's game against Louisiana-Monroe.
-Carter said that he really felt a sense of urgency to get his shot going today. Carter believed that even after he missed some shots early, he felt like he was close enough on those attempts to keep shooting in order to get out of his slump. Carter finished the game four of seven from three-point range.
-Carter was also asked about the bench performance because West Virginia outscored Louisiana-Monroe 42-13 in the game. Carter says for West Virginia to have success moving forward that the team has to be able to have that kind of performance from the bench guys. He feels that they are just as valuable as the starters especially since West Virginia plays so many guys and Huggins rotates everyone.
-Jaysean Paige had 14 of West Virginia's 42 bench points. Paige made four three-pointers off the bench for West Virginia on Sunday night. He feels like he's shooting it well and attribute the success to hard work and confidence. While the team has struggled, Paige has consistently shot it well for West Virginia and he feels like that confidence carries from night to night.
-Paige thinks that if West Virginia can get consistent three-point shooting like they got tonight, it'll ultimately make it easier on big men Devin Williams and Elijah Macon over the next few months. Paige thinks a three-point threat forces defenses to thin out and not pack the lane like Virginia did against the Mountaineers on Tuesday.
-Paige also reiterated Huggins' point about slow starts to begin the second half. Paige feels like that him and his teammates need to be more ready to play even if they're ahead by a large margin. Paige says Huggins was yelling at them about even before halftime to not start slow in the second.
-Macon, who had eight points and five rebounds off the bench, said the win was really nice to get the win today because everyone took the loss with bad taste in their mouth after losing to Virginia. Macon says everyone stayed in the gym all week to prepare for this game and games in the future. Macon admitted that there was a little bit of shock after losing to Virginia and it helped the team wake up.
-Personally, Macon feels that he's been really up and down this year and inconsistency is his biggest problem. Macon says he's working towards being more consistent and it's a conversation that him and Huggins have each and every day.
-Huggins says one thing that he is a little bit concerned about is sluggish starts in the second half. He thinks the games in Morgantown especially have been a byproduct of being up by so many points and players wanting to rack up points on their own individual stat line. Huggins says that the team needs to come and just play like they do in the first half with great effort and a team mindset.
-West Virginia managed to shoot 41.7-percent from three-point range and made a season single-game high 15 three-pointers on Sunday evening. Huggins says the performance tonight was more similar to how he thought West Virginia would shoot the ball going into the year. Huggins referenced the Bahamas trip and said in the Bahamas, even though the competition wasn't the best that Carter, Daxter Miles and Tarik Phillip all shot the ball well. Huggins says that the players continue to shoot the ball well in practice, but that it just hasn't translated in the game. He thinks the team can continue to see more consistent performances from beyond the arc going forward.
-Carter was the game's biggest story line today considering the bounce back performance he was able to have against the Warhawks. After the game Carter said that he completely understood why and couldn't blame Huggins for taking him out of the game on Tuesday in the loss to Virginia. Carter said that actually would have done the same exact thing that Huggins did because of the poor decision made the court to throw a behind-the-back pass when he had a wide open layup against the Cavaliers. Carter even went as far to say that, "Coach Huggins is a legend" and he and Huggins both had the mindset of a clean slate heading into today's game against Louisiana-Monroe.
-Carter said that he really felt a sense of urgency to get his shot going today. Carter believed that even after he missed some shots early, he felt like he was close enough on those attempts to keep shooting in order to get out of his slump. Carter finished the game four of seven from three-point range.
-Carter was also asked about the bench performance because West Virginia outscored Louisiana-Monroe 42-13 in the game. Carter says for West Virginia to have success moving forward that the team has to be able to have that kind of performance from the bench guys. He feels that they are just as valuable as the starters especially since West Virginia plays so many guys and Huggins rotates everyone.
-Jaysean Paige had 14 of West Virginia's 42 bench points. Paige made four three-pointers off the bench for West Virginia on Sunday night. He feels like he's shooting it well and attribute the success to hard work and confidence. While the team has struggled, Paige has consistently shot it well for West Virginia and he feels like that confidence carries from night to night.
-Paige thinks that if West Virginia can get consistent three-point shooting like they got tonight, it'll ultimately make it easier on big men Devin Williams and Elijah Macon over the next few months. Paige thinks a three-point threat forces defenses to thin out and not pack the lane like Virginia did against the Mountaineers on Tuesday.
-Paige also reiterated Huggins' point about slow starts to begin the second half. Paige feels like that him and his teammates need to be more ready to play even if they're ahead by a large margin. Paige says Huggins was yelling at them about even before halftime to not start slow in the second.
-Macon, who had eight points and five rebounds off the bench, said the win was really nice to get the win today because everyone took the loss with bad taste in their mouth after losing to Virginia. Macon says everyone stayed in the gym all week to prepare for this game and games in the future. Macon admitted that there was a little bit of shock after losing to Virginia and it helped the team wake up.
-Personally, Macon feels that he's been really up and down this year and inconsistency is his biggest problem. Macon says he's working towards being more consistent and it's a conversation that him and Huggins have each and every day.
