--Well, this one started ugly for both teams but ended up as a disaster for West Virginia. The Mountaineers were able to seize a 17-13 lead after a 9-0 run but then things completely fell apart with BYU using a 10-0 run to close the half and take a 25-19 lead before the wheels came off in the second half with the Cougars outscoring West Virginia 52-37 and really just ran away with it. This was as ugly as the score reflects as the Mountaineers just struggled to put the ball in the basket while BYU was able to get the ball in the paint with little resistance. This team has struggled to score the ball at times all season and with little reliable options outside of senior guard Javon Small and that again was glaring in this one. The late first half collapses have been to common with this team and it hurt them yet again in this one and they never found any sort of momentum after the break.
--West Virginia had zero answers for BYU getting the ball inside in this one as they held a 46-22 edge. Fousseyni Traore took this game over and quite simply West Virginia couldn't stop him as he 20 points on 9-13 shooting and even when he missed at the rim, it seemed like he got the offensive rebound and was able to finish. The Cougars were then able to start hitting some threes in the second half after not making any in the first and put this one to bed. The Cougars did a good job getting downhill in the second half and also took advantage of missed shots.
--The Mountaineers were out rebounded 35-23, but some of that is because they shot 33 percent from the field on 63 attempts.
--West Virginia started this game playing well on defense and really made things difficult for BYU including turning them over and getting some easy baskets on the other end. But things certainly didn't end up that way as the Cougars shot 53-percent for the game and had 16 assists on 29 made baskets.
--Javon Small had 15 points and continued to receive a ton of attention. He is working so hard right now just to get clean looks and when he did get them it seemed that he cashed in, but those are too few and far between. This continues to be a major problem and West Virginia has to have the auxiliary pieces step up and play well and that just didn't happen tonight. Nobody else was even in double figures and the combination of Joe Yesufu, Jonathan Powell, Amani Hansberry and Toby Okani were just 10-34 from the field.
--I did like what Sencire Harris brought in this game at times on both ends as he was 3-6 from the field with 7 points and continued to make an impact on defense before he got tagged with foul trouble. He finished with 3 steals, including a beautiful pick when he baited the Cougars into throwing the ball and he took it for a layup. But he was limited to just 19 minutes.
--The Mountaineers were just 8-27 from three. Yuck.
--Only four turnovers, so that's at least one positive. But BYU did have 6 points off those miscues, so they did get hurt at times when they made mistakes.
--On top of points in the paint, the BYU bench absolutely dominated what West Virginia got from there 43-16. Considering the Mountaineers only scored 13 more points total that's not good.
--This was a bad game, but this West Virginia team is still playing for a lot with two games left. The Mountaineers are now 17-12 and 8-10 in the Big 12 with the final regular season road game at Utah and then closing the season at home against UCF. Win those two and this team is safely in the field even after losing eight of their last 12 games. That speaks to the resume that the Mountaineers have been able to put together even with some recent struggles. Win one and this team still might be in the field if they can win a game in Kansas City. Lose both and this is going to be a really rocky road for a team that seemed like an NCAA lock after beating Iowa State in early February. But there is still a lot left to play for and you want to be playing those type of games in March. Now it's about getting it done and finding a way to close this year strong.
--West Virginia had zero answers for BYU getting the ball inside in this one as they held a 46-22 edge. Fousseyni Traore took this game over and quite simply West Virginia couldn't stop him as he 20 points on 9-13 shooting and even when he missed at the rim, it seemed like he got the offensive rebound and was able to finish. The Cougars were then able to start hitting some threes in the second half after not making any in the first and put this one to bed. The Cougars did a good job getting downhill in the second half and also took advantage of missed shots.
--The Mountaineers were out rebounded 35-23, but some of that is because they shot 33 percent from the field on 63 attempts.
--West Virginia started this game playing well on defense and really made things difficult for BYU including turning them over and getting some easy baskets on the other end. But things certainly didn't end up that way as the Cougars shot 53-percent for the game and had 16 assists on 29 made baskets.
--Javon Small had 15 points and continued to receive a ton of attention. He is working so hard right now just to get clean looks and when he did get them it seemed that he cashed in, but those are too few and far between. This continues to be a major problem and West Virginia has to have the auxiliary pieces step up and play well and that just didn't happen tonight. Nobody else was even in double figures and the combination of Joe Yesufu, Jonathan Powell, Amani Hansberry and Toby Okani were just 10-34 from the field.
--I did like what Sencire Harris brought in this game at times on both ends as he was 3-6 from the field with 7 points and continued to make an impact on defense before he got tagged with foul trouble. He finished with 3 steals, including a beautiful pick when he baited the Cougars into throwing the ball and he took it for a layup. But he was limited to just 19 minutes.
--The Mountaineers were just 8-27 from three. Yuck.
--Only four turnovers, so that's at least one positive. But BYU did have 6 points off those miscues, so they did get hurt at times when they made mistakes.
--On top of points in the paint, the BYU bench absolutely dominated what West Virginia got from there 43-16. Considering the Mountaineers only scored 13 more points total that's not good.
--This was a bad game, but this West Virginia team is still playing for a lot with two games left. The Mountaineers are now 17-12 and 8-10 in the Big 12 with the final regular season road game at Utah and then closing the season at home against UCF. Win those two and this team is safely in the field even after losing eight of their last 12 games. That speaks to the resume that the Mountaineers have been able to put together even with some recent struggles. Win one and this team still might be in the field if they can win a game in Kansas City. Lose both and this is going to be a really rocky road for a team that seemed like an NCAA lock after beating Iowa State in early February. But there is still a lot left to play for and you want to be playing those type of games in March. Now it's about getting it done and finding a way to close this year strong.
