--West Virginia has done such a good job of avoiding these type of losses all season but simply didn't have it tonight against Arizona State off the win over No. 2 Iowa State. This was about as poor as the Mountaineers have played all season as they shot just 31-percent from the floor and didn't even make their first field goal of the second half until the 12:52 mark. Going back to the first half, West Virginia went 9:02 without making a field goal in this game and saw a 24-23 halftime deficit quickly grow to double digits. Yes, the team showed some fight to rally but the Sun Devils had an answer every single time and the Mountaineers were truly never able to get over the hump. There's no sugar coating this, it's a bad loss at home against a team that was 1-5 in Big 12 play. You can't lose these type of games at home and unfortunately that's exactly what this team did.
--Not only was West Virginia 31-percent from the field but were an ice cold 14-percent or 4-29 from three. The Arizona State defense was tough especially in the half court and made things very difficult at times, but the Mountaineers didn't help themselves at all. On the other end it felt that the Mountaineers just couldn't string together stops.
--The Mountaineers were out rebounded 46-28, including allowing 14 offensive rebounds and 16 second chance points. In total the Mountaineers were -6 in second chance points.
--West Virginia has lost other games this season but felt tonight that Arizona State simply had more effort and was the tougher team. That has been a trademark of this club but the Sun Devils were able to get some easy baskets when they needed it the most in this one and the defense simply didn't respond. Arizona State shot 48-percent and 36 points in the paint which was almost half of their output.
--Arizona State especially made things difficult for Javon Small as he got plenty of attention any time he had the basketball. He had 14 points but 10 of that came from the foul line as he was 2-11 from the field and 0-8 from three. The way this team is currently constructed, I'm not sure they can survive a night when Small can't get going to this degree.
--Thought West Virginia got some good minutes at times, but overall this was as inconsistent as this team has looked in quite some time. Thought Sencire Harris sparked the team at times with his defense but struggled to hit shots, although he was 6-6 from the line. Also felt KJ Tenner gave some good minutes in this one and had 6 assists.
--West Virginia was able to score 28 points off turnovers, but really struggled in the half court.
--One bright spot is West Virginia made 17-20 from the line but Toby Okani did miss back-to-back free throws when the game was still technically in doubt.
--West Virginia dropped a bad game to lose at home and now has to go on the road and play Kansas State. I didn't think losing at home to Arizona State was an option, but now this team almost has to go on the road to beat Kansas State with Houston set to come to Morgantown next. This is just a tough one and is something that the program has avoided for the most part in these classic trap type situations but now they'll need to bounce back in a hurry because the Big 12 is a grind.
--Not only was West Virginia 31-percent from the field but were an ice cold 14-percent or 4-29 from three. The Arizona State defense was tough especially in the half court and made things very difficult at times, but the Mountaineers didn't help themselves at all. On the other end it felt that the Mountaineers just couldn't string together stops.
--The Mountaineers were out rebounded 46-28, including allowing 14 offensive rebounds and 16 second chance points. In total the Mountaineers were -6 in second chance points.
--West Virginia has lost other games this season but felt tonight that Arizona State simply had more effort and was the tougher team. That has been a trademark of this club but the Sun Devils were able to get some easy baskets when they needed it the most in this one and the defense simply didn't respond. Arizona State shot 48-percent and 36 points in the paint which was almost half of their output.
--Arizona State especially made things difficult for Javon Small as he got plenty of attention any time he had the basketball. He had 14 points but 10 of that came from the foul line as he was 2-11 from the field and 0-8 from three. The way this team is currently constructed, I'm not sure they can survive a night when Small can't get going to this degree.
--Thought West Virginia got some good minutes at times, but overall this was as inconsistent as this team has looked in quite some time. Thought Sencire Harris sparked the team at times with his defense but struggled to hit shots, although he was 6-6 from the line. Also felt KJ Tenner gave some good minutes in this one and had 6 assists.
--West Virginia was able to score 28 points off turnovers, but really struggled in the half court.
--One bright spot is West Virginia made 17-20 from the line but Toby Okani did miss back-to-back free throws when the game was still technically in doubt.
--West Virginia dropped a bad game to lose at home and now has to go on the road and play Kansas State. I didn't think losing at home to Arizona State was an option, but now this team almost has to go on the road to beat Kansas State with Houston set to come to Morgantown next. This is just a tough one and is something that the program has avoided for the most part in these classic trap type situations but now they'll need to bounce back in a hurry because the Big 12 is a grind.
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