–West Virginia led this game 62-56 with 6:33 left and then completely came unglued. The Mountaineer allowed a 9-0 run for BYU to take control of the game and while the team battled back multiple times and even led late, they simply couldn’t make enough plays to get it done. There’s no question this is a tough loss for this team and one that it looked like they had control of until things quickly unraveled with just some uncharacteristic plays on both ends of the floor. This was still a fun basketball game to watch and was back and forth throughout.
–West Virginia only turned the ball over seven times in this game and turned 12 BYU mistakes into 17 points off turnovers. That continues to be a recipe for success for this team. The Cougars did a much better job in the second half taking care of the ball though.
–West Virginia shot 47-percent from the field and 33-percent from three but still didn’t have enough to win this basketball game. Felt that the Mountaineers again had good ball movement and they missed a ton of open shots which speaks to how well they played. It felt like BYU killed the Mountaineer from three but they only made one more 10-9 in the final total.
--Defense was better in the first half but had issues in the second and BYU exploited that.
–BYU was +10 on the glass and had 10 offensive rebounds. Clearly those nine second chance points loom large given the final result. The Cougars dominated the Mountaineers in bench points with 38 and +20 overall in that department.
–Officiating wasn’t great, but I don’t think it’s the reason West Virginia lost this basketball game. I do think the screens were a little ridiculous but they weren’t calling that on either end.
–Did BYU make four threes in this game as the shot clock was expiring? The one at the end was an absolute heave that somehow went through the net.
–Javon Small was limited to just 4 shots in this one after taking just 5 in the game before. He finished with 9 points and 9 assists while playing a total of 35 minutes. He now has 17 assists and 2 turnovers over the past two games but teams are making it really hard for him to get shots.
–Toby Okani scored 16 points and had 5 rebounds to go with it. Thought he again made some critical plays in order to get this team going especially early in the game.
–Joe Yesufu had 11 points but was 4-14 from the field. He had some open looks as well that he couldn’t hit in this one but the Mountaineers need him to score. He was -8 overall.
–Jonathan Powell scored 11 points in this one, his second straight hitting that mark. He was 3-6 from deep and was active fighting on the glass although he only had 3 points in the second half.
–Sencire Harris had some really good moments in this one defensively and offensively and some forgettable ones including his turnover late with a careless pass and the foul late. Still, Harris just gets after it defensively and also had some really good decisions with the ball in his hands at times. He also made some highlight reel finishes in this game and had 7 points and 5 assists.
–Amani Hansberry was 0-4 from three but 4-5 from two in this one with 8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. He took a few ill advised shots, but West Virginia needs him to score.
–This one hurts West Virginia for a lot of reasons. The Mountaineers needed to find a way to win the games at home and now has to go on the road to Baylor and try to figure things out in a tough environment. The Mountaineers are now 15-9 overall and 6-7 in the Big 12 and still needs to get some more wins on this resume if they want to go dancing. That just became a little harder.
–West Virginia only turned the ball over seven times in this game and turned 12 BYU mistakes into 17 points off turnovers. That continues to be a recipe for success for this team. The Cougars did a much better job in the second half taking care of the ball though.
–West Virginia shot 47-percent from the field and 33-percent from three but still didn’t have enough to win this basketball game. Felt that the Mountaineers again had good ball movement and they missed a ton of open shots which speaks to how well they played. It felt like BYU killed the Mountaineer from three but they only made one more 10-9 in the final total.
--Defense was better in the first half but had issues in the second and BYU exploited that.
–BYU was +10 on the glass and had 10 offensive rebounds. Clearly those nine second chance points loom large given the final result. The Cougars dominated the Mountaineers in bench points with 38 and +20 overall in that department.
–Officiating wasn’t great, but I don’t think it’s the reason West Virginia lost this basketball game. I do think the screens were a little ridiculous but they weren’t calling that on either end.
–Did BYU make four threes in this game as the shot clock was expiring? The one at the end was an absolute heave that somehow went through the net.
–Javon Small was limited to just 4 shots in this one after taking just 5 in the game before. He finished with 9 points and 9 assists while playing a total of 35 minutes. He now has 17 assists and 2 turnovers over the past two games but teams are making it really hard for him to get shots.
–Toby Okani scored 16 points and had 5 rebounds to go with it. Thought he again made some critical plays in order to get this team going especially early in the game.
–Joe Yesufu had 11 points but was 4-14 from the field. He had some open looks as well that he couldn’t hit in this one but the Mountaineers need him to score. He was -8 overall.
–Jonathan Powell scored 11 points in this one, his second straight hitting that mark. He was 3-6 from deep and was active fighting on the glass although he only had 3 points in the second half.
–Sencire Harris had some really good moments in this one defensively and offensively and some forgettable ones including his turnover late with a careless pass and the foul late. Still, Harris just gets after it defensively and also had some really good decisions with the ball in his hands at times. He also made some highlight reel finishes in this game and had 7 points and 5 assists.
–Amani Hansberry was 0-4 from three but 4-5 from two in this one with 8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. He took a few ill advised shots, but West Virginia needs him to score.
–This one hurts West Virginia for a lot of reasons. The Mountaineers needed to find a way to win the games at home and now has to go on the road to Baylor and try to figure things out in a tough environment. The Mountaineers are now 15-9 overall and 6-7 in the Big 12 and still needs to get some more wins on this resume if they want to go dancing. That just became a little harder.
