--There’s just no way around this one. It’s a bad, bad loss. You’re going to have games like this at times, but what was troubling about this one was how lethargic that West Virginia was for much of this game falling behind by 24-points to a team that was winless in Big 12 Conference play. Outside a 20-3 run that got the Mountaineers back in the game this was just a debacle that you have to just move past. Guard play was the difference in this one as the Wildcats killed the Mountaineers off the dribble. The loss drops West Virginia to 3-2 in the Big 12 and you’d hate to see that this performance could possibly be the reason the Mountaineers don’t challenge for the conference crown.
--Over the past three games, the Mountaineers had allowed on average 48 points, to go along with 30-percent from three and 20-percent from two. Well, Kansas State scored 82 points while shooting 58-percent from the field and 50-percent from three. That’s tied for the most points that the Mountaineers have given up this season with Akron. The defensive effort was just not there at times and the Wildcats got a lot more open looks than opponents have pretty much all year. The first half was especially miserable which put the visitors in a 17-point hole.
--It's clear to me that some of the players on this roster clearly are going through some confidence issues right now and it's affecting this club. I don't know how to solve it or if it can be solved, but the Mountaineers have to get more out of some of these guys or they can't continue to see the minutes that they are getting.
--Despite the edge on size, West Virginia was outscored 36-34 in the paint.
--There were three players on the West Virginia roster that finished with a +/- in the positives with Derek Culver +6, Miles McBride +3 and Sean McNeil +2. That sums it up.
--Only individual player I’ll highlight here is junior Gabe Osabuohien who again stuffed the stat sheet with a career high 10 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 3 steals in his 25 minutes.
--The Mountaineers had 18 turnovers and that resulted in 28 points for the Wildcats. It’s not that West Virginia just turned the ball over, they had so many live ball mistakes that led to baskets. West Virginia had six different players with at least two turnovers. Woof.
--Free throw shooting was again not good. West Virginia finished 12-22 from the line and again missed the front end of one and one opportunities.
--After the best offensive game of the season with crisp ball movement, it was stagnant at times in this one as the Mountaineers finished with only 12 assists on 25 made baskets.
--The bench controlled the scoring again with a 41-26 edge but the starters struggled so much it’s hard to really be happy about it. West Virginia was 16-23 on layups.
--West Virginia will now head home to play Texas on a short turnaround, which could possibly be the best thing for this team after this effort.
--Over the past three games, the Mountaineers had allowed on average 48 points, to go along with 30-percent from three and 20-percent from two. Well, Kansas State scored 82 points while shooting 58-percent from the field and 50-percent from three. That’s tied for the most points that the Mountaineers have given up this season with Akron. The defensive effort was just not there at times and the Wildcats got a lot more open looks than opponents have pretty much all year. The first half was especially miserable which put the visitors in a 17-point hole.
--It's clear to me that some of the players on this roster clearly are going through some confidence issues right now and it's affecting this club. I don't know how to solve it or if it can be solved, but the Mountaineers have to get more out of some of these guys or they can't continue to see the minutes that they are getting.
--Despite the edge on size, West Virginia was outscored 36-34 in the paint.
--There were three players on the West Virginia roster that finished with a +/- in the positives with Derek Culver +6, Miles McBride +3 and Sean McNeil +2. That sums it up.
--Only individual player I’ll highlight here is junior Gabe Osabuohien who again stuffed the stat sheet with a career high 10 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 3 steals in his 25 minutes.
--The Mountaineers had 18 turnovers and that resulted in 28 points for the Wildcats. It’s not that West Virginia just turned the ball over, they had so many live ball mistakes that led to baskets. West Virginia had six different players with at least two turnovers. Woof.
--Free throw shooting was again not good. West Virginia finished 12-22 from the line and again missed the front end of one and one opportunities.
--After the best offensive game of the season with crisp ball movement, it was stagnant at times in this one as the Mountaineers finished with only 12 assists on 25 made baskets.
--The bench controlled the scoring again with a 41-26 edge but the starters struggled so much it’s hard to really be happy about it. West Virginia was 16-23 on layups.
--West Virginia will now head home to play Texas on a short turnaround, which could possibly be the best thing for this team after this effort.
