--Give this team a lot of credit. Things looked like they were going to unravel in an all too-familiar fashion after building a 13-point halftime lead but West Virginia didn't quit. The Mountaineers battled down the stretch and won a game that it had to win for a large number of reasons but perhaps most importantly was for the confidence of this team. After losing six of seven and not winning a road game since Jan. 6, the Mountaineers had every reason to let this one get away from it but showed a lot of resolve and was able to find a way down the stretch even with some let's call them curious lineup decisions at times. This was the type of win that this club has failed to create on the road and exactly what it needed to try to give it a spark down the stretch. Will it matter? That remains to be seen but if definitely is a breath of fresh air for a team that has been looking for anything positive of late.
--Look losing six of seven isn't good. There's no way to sugar coat that but if I told you before the season that this team was going to win 20 games and be in the NCAA Tournament you'd have taken it zero questions, right? Well, that's essentially a lock now but there's still a lot of work to be done and this team could end up anywhere from third to seventh in the Big 12 Standings.
--The Mountaineers ball movement in the first half was excellent with 10 assists on 20 made baskets and they finished with 14 total assists, which the program did only twice all of February and ironically one of those was against Iowa State. Still, the ball movement made a difference and got the Mountaineers some easy baskets when the offense had struggled to score. The first half was the best that you had seen West Virginia shoot the ball in quite some time.
--Huggins really shortened the lineups to eight players over 10+ minutes and while you'd like to see more of the guard oriented group, you have naturally seen things getting trimmed down.
--West Virginia was 18-23 from the foul line in this one. They've struggled from there all year but when you consider that Jermaine Haley is responsible for three of those misses it was an excellent night overall for the Mountaineers when they needed to make them to close the game.
--Freshman big man Oscar Tshiebwe was excellent in the second half scoring 9 points and grabbing 5 offensive rebounds. He was impressive from the line as well making all 5 of his free throw attempts. His put back and one was a huge point in the game and while he still has to improve on finishing around the rim he's an elite rebounder.
--Junior Taz Sherman was again a major boost in this one and it's really fair to wonder why he didn't play more. Sherman saw only 19 minutes but turned that into 12 points on 3-5 shooting and a team leading +11 for the game. He was able to stretch the defense and there's more spacing when he and Sean McNeil are on the floor at the same time (obviously).
--Sophomore Derek Culver made a difference in this one going 8-14 from the floor (really 7-13 if you take out the weird end of half heave) and he finished with 9 rebounds, 4 on the offensive end. He still missed some easy shots but you can live with this effort after going 2-11 in the Oklahoma game and really struggled to do anything.
--Bench points were 35-2 in favor of the Mountaineers. West Virginia was also +8 on the glass but actually finished -2 in second chance points.
--West Virginia made five threes in this one, the most that the program has made in a single game since Baylor (6) Feb. 15.
--Freshman Miles McBride did a good job penetrating and hitting some tough shots. He finished with 17 points and was 6-6 from the line down the stretch. Him making some shots helped to open up some things inside and he appeared to have some of that confidence he had earlier in the year.
--West Virginia was 15-28 on shots around the rim. Just imagine if this team could finish on some of these point blank attempts? Jermaine Haley was definitely a culprit here, but he did do a good job getting some key baskets and using his size in the post to finish with 9 points and 3 assists.
--Iowa State only had two more turnovers than West Virginia's 10 but the Mountaineers were able to turn that into 19 points off those mistakes, +7 in that department.
--The Mountaineers finished at 1.222 points per possession on 63 trips. Sure beats some of the putrid numbers of late.
--Look losing six of seven isn't good. There's no way to sugar coat that but if I told you before the season that this team was going to win 20 games and be in the NCAA Tournament you'd have taken it zero questions, right? Well, that's essentially a lock now but there's still a lot of work to be done and this team could end up anywhere from third to seventh in the Big 12 Standings.
--The Mountaineers ball movement in the first half was excellent with 10 assists on 20 made baskets and they finished with 14 total assists, which the program did only twice all of February and ironically one of those was against Iowa State. Still, the ball movement made a difference and got the Mountaineers some easy baskets when the offense had struggled to score. The first half was the best that you had seen West Virginia shoot the ball in quite some time.
--Huggins really shortened the lineups to eight players over 10+ minutes and while you'd like to see more of the guard oriented group, you have naturally seen things getting trimmed down.
--West Virginia was 18-23 from the foul line in this one. They've struggled from there all year but when you consider that Jermaine Haley is responsible for three of those misses it was an excellent night overall for the Mountaineers when they needed to make them to close the game.
--Freshman big man Oscar Tshiebwe was excellent in the second half scoring 9 points and grabbing 5 offensive rebounds. He was impressive from the line as well making all 5 of his free throw attempts. His put back and one was a huge point in the game and while he still has to improve on finishing around the rim he's an elite rebounder.
--Junior Taz Sherman was again a major boost in this one and it's really fair to wonder why he didn't play more. Sherman saw only 19 minutes but turned that into 12 points on 3-5 shooting and a team leading +11 for the game. He was able to stretch the defense and there's more spacing when he and Sean McNeil are on the floor at the same time (obviously).
--Sophomore Derek Culver made a difference in this one going 8-14 from the floor (really 7-13 if you take out the weird end of half heave) and he finished with 9 rebounds, 4 on the offensive end. He still missed some easy shots but you can live with this effort after going 2-11 in the Oklahoma game and really struggled to do anything.
--Bench points were 35-2 in favor of the Mountaineers. West Virginia was also +8 on the glass but actually finished -2 in second chance points.
--West Virginia made five threes in this one, the most that the program has made in a single game since Baylor (6) Feb. 15.
--Freshman Miles McBride did a good job penetrating and hitting some tough shots. He finished with 17 points and was 6-6 from the line down the stretch. Him making some shots helped to open up some things inside and he appeared to have some of that confidence he had earlier in the year.
--West Virginia was 15-28 on shots around the rim. Just imagine if this team could finish on some of these point blank attempts? Jermaine Haley was definitely a culprit here, but he did do a good job getting some key baskets and using his size in the post to finish with 9 points and 3 assists.
--Iowa State only had two more turnovers than West Virginia's 10 but the Mountaineers were able to turn that into 19 points off those mistakes, +7 in that department.
--The Mountaineers finished at 1.222 points per possession on 63 trips. Sure beats some of the putrid numbers of late.
