--Yuck. In a season full of disappointing results, the second half of this game might take the cake. West Virginia allowed the Bearcats to score 56 points in the second half and the Mountaineers only had 56 total for the game. That really tells you all you need to know without diving into anything else. Again, it was just way too easy for Cincinnati in this game as the Bearcats shot almost 60-percent from the field for the game and was 21-30 or 70-percent (!) in the second half. That doesn't even happen in warmups. The Bearcats were at 1.750 points per possession in the second half which even with the totals I had to do a double take. It didn't look at times that West Virginia had much in this one and it truly became a laugher late as the Bearcats were making and-one mix tapes with wide open alley-oop dunks and walk-ons hitting shots. This was just a really, really bad game.
--The Mountaineers are now 9-22 on the season and hold the banner for the most losses in a single season in program history. I'm not sure this team is the worst team in totality, but it simply has never clicked for this team given all the challenges and now awaits a possible rematch with Cincinnati if Kansas State beats Iowa State.
--Cincinnati held a 48-14 edge in points in the paint. That's so bad I didn't even believe it was real at first. This was just a really bad game all around, but the Mountaineers were simply dominated in some areas after beating this same Cincinnati team in Morgantown at the end of January. The Bearcats were just more physical and played with more effort.
--It was much of the same here as West Virginia was sloppy with the ball and led to easy baskets for the Bearcats. Out of the 16 turnovers, Cincinnati turned that into 27 points and was +17 in points off turnovers in the game.
--Jesse Edwards was dominant in the first meeting but had only 8 points and 4 rebounds across 18 minutes in this one. It looked like Cincinnati took that matchup personally after how Edwards had his way with the Bearcats scoring 25 points with 10 rebounds.
--RaeQuan Battle had a nice run to close the first half but overall struggled like the rest of the roster. He was 4-10 from the floor with 9 points.
--Kerr Kriisa really struggled in this one and didn't even record an assist across 31 minutes. He did have 3 turnovers and was -29 overall with 6 points on 2-7 shooting.
--Did like what I saw out of Noah Farrakhan in this one as he was the only source of offense for a while with 12 points on 5-9 shooting. But like the rest of the roster, there just hasn't been any consistency.
--I'm not going to beat this to death because at this point this is what it is. West Virginia has struggled in some areas all season and while they've shown flashes at times they haven't been able to show any significant growth as a team. Barring one of the most surprising runs in school history in the Big 12 Tournament, the Mountaineers season should end early next week and then the question will become what comes next for this program?
--The Mountaineers are now 9-22 on the season and hold the banner for the most losses in a single season in program history. I'm not sure this team is the worst team in totality, but it simply has never clicked for this team given all the challenges and now awaits a possible rematch with Cincinnati if Kansas State beats Iowa State.
--Cincinnati held a 48-14 edge in points in the paint. That's so bad I didn't even believe it was real at first. This was just a really bad game all around, but the Mountaineers were simply dominated in some areas after beating this same Cincinnati team in Morgantown at the end of January. The Bearcats were just more physical and played with more effort.
--It was much of the same here as West Virginia was sloppy with the ball and led to easy baskets for the Bearcats. Out of the 16 turnovers, Cincinnati turned that into 27 points and was +17 in points off turnovers in the game.
--Jesse Edwards was dominant in the first meeting but had only 8 points and 4 rebounds across 18 minutes in this one. It looked like Cincinnati took that matchup personally after how Edwards had his way with the Bearcats scoring 25 points with 10 rebounds.
--RaeQuan Battle had a nice run to close the first half but overall struggled like the rest of the roster. He was 4-10 from the floor with 9 points.
--Kerr Kriisa really struggled in this one and didn't even record an assist across 31 minutes. He did have 3 turnovers and was -29 overall with 6 points on 2-7 shooting.
--Did like what I saw out of Noah Farrakhan in this one as he was the only source of offense for a while with 12 points on 5-9 shooting. But like the rest of the roster, there just hasn't been any consistency.
--I'm not going to beat this to death because at this point this is what it is. West Virginia has struggled in some areas all season and while they've shown flashes at times they haven't been able to show any significant growth as a team. Barring one of the most surprising runs in school history in the Big 12 Tournament, the Mountaineers season should end early next week and then the question will become what comes next for this program?
