–West Virginia was able to avenge an earlier loss to Oklahoma State by really leading from start to finish in this one with a convincing win at home. It is exactly the type of response you wanted to see after how bad things were against Texas Tech but now this team sits at 16-12 with three regular season games left. This win is obviously important because it keeps the Mountaineers on the right side of the bubble for the time being but they have to find a way to win some more down the stretch. I’m still under the belief that 18 is going to get this team into the tournament due to their metrics but that would be winning two of the next three. That’s no easy task considering two of those are on the road at Kansas and at Iowa State and we all know that the Mountaineers are 1-15 on the road the past two years. But this is the type of effort and response you want to see. Can it turn into more down the stretch? The computers love West Virginia, but they have to find more wins.
–West Virginia held Oklahoma State to .619 points per possession and to only 7 made baskets in the first half. Only 3 of those were layups! The second half wasn’t as dominating, but it was night and day from the disaster against Texas Tech where the Red Raiders scored 21 of their 29 baskets on layups and were able to get shots at the rim over and over. Oklahoma State was 2-19 from three.
–The Mountaineers really took advantage of Oklahoma State’s miscues and held a 28-4 edge in points off turnovers. That is a hard hole to climb out of on the road. On the flipside, it wasn’t perfect and there were some bad turnovers at times but West Virginia only had 9 compared to 18 miscues from the Cowboys.
–I understand that things got testy at times in the second half, but there was absolutely no rhythm with all of the whistles and how things changed from the officiating staff. Some of that was to get things under control but that was an ugly half of basketball by all metrics.
–West Virginia also held a 21-9 edge in second chance points and was +8 points in the paint.
–Erik Stevenson continues to shoot the ball well and right now is questionably the best offensive threat on this team. He had 23 points in this one and was 5-6 from three. When he’s shooting the ball well and getting some help this team can score some points.
–Kedrian Johnson didn’t see as much time in the second half, but if I would have told you at any point that he would arguably be the second best pure scorer on this team before the season would you have believed it? The fifth year senior is playing with a ton of confidence right now and is showcasing the ability to score at all three levels. He had the pedigree coming into West Virginia but is starting to put together some strong performances offensively to go with his defense.
–Welcome back, Tre Mitchell! After really struggling the past few games, Mitchell was active on both ends but especially offensively. He looked like he wanted to make an impact on the offensive end from the start and his dunk on the breakaway is something that he hasn’t shown in a while. West Virginia simply needs Mitchell to play with more aggression and he did exactly that in this one and wasn’t settling for jumpers. He had 22 points in this one on 8-15 shooting. He had only scored 16 combined in his last three games on 6-19 shooting. Still want him to be more active on the glass, but you’ll take the scoring after the recent stretch of struggles. I do think some of it is simply just trusting himself at times and hopefully this game goes a long way toward accomplishing that. You won’t get 22 every night, but if you get the same approach there are bound to be some good things that happen.
–Yes, Mohamed Wague was called for a cheap technical after a dunk. But I’m not sure why he didn’t see more minutes in this game because he was a problem for Oklahoma State. Wague’s athleticism created some issues and he just played hard. Wague also had 4 rebounds and ran the floor well which has never been an issue. He is the best finisher around the rim in traffic out of the bigs but has to do the other stuff that’s going to keep him on the floor for Huggins.
–It’s hard not to like the way James Okonkwo plays the game. He played with great effort and had 5 rebounds in only 11 minutes. He’s got to find a way to stay out of foul trouble.
–Jimmy Bell is what he is at this point but in this game I do think he at least passed the basketball well with 3 assists and 0 turnovers. He is battling in the post and can score the ball at times, but as I’ve said before I do think it’s completely fair to suggest there are better options.
–You’ll take 20-25 from the line any day. But the Mountaineers are still struggling to finish around the basket at times going 11-21 around the rim.
–West Virginia isn’t dead yet despite it feeling like it at times. We can sit and nitpick all of the times this team has let games slip away but even with all of that the Mountaineers still are in the hunt for their goal of returning to the tournament. There’s a lot of basketball left and just finding a way to steal one of the next two could set up a massive game at home against Kansas State. You can see the potential of this team at times, but it’s maddening how inconsistent they are from game to game. It’s going to be no easy task, but at least West Virginia is playing for another day after finding a way to get some revenge at home against the Pokes.
–West Virginia held Oklahoma State to .619 points per possession and to only 7 made baskets in the first half. Only 3 of those were layups! The second half wasn’t as dominating, but it was night and day from the disaster against Texas Tech where the Red Raiders scored 21 of their 29 baskets on layups and were able to get shots at the rim over and over. Oklahoma State was 2-19 from three.
–The Mountaineers really took advantage of Oklahoma State’s miscues and held a 28-4 edge in points off turnovers. That is a hard hole to climb out of on the road. On the flipside, it wasn’t perfect and there were some bad turnovers at times but West Virginia only had 9 compared to 18 miscues from the Cowboys.
–I understand that things got testy at times in the second half, but there was absolutely no rhythm with all of the whistles and how things changed from the officiating staff. Some of that was to get things under control but that was an ugly half of basketball by all metrics.
–West Virginia also held a 21-9 edge in second chance points and was +8 points in the paint.
–Erik Stevenson continues to shoot the ball well and right now is questionably the best offensive threat on this team. He had 23 points in this one and was 5-6 from three. When he’s shooting the ball well and getting some help this team can score some points.
–Kedrian Johnson didn’t see as much time in the second half, but if I would have told you at any point that he would arguably be the second best pure scorer on this team before the season would you have believed it? The fifth year senior is playing with a ton of confidence right now and is showcasing the ability to score at all three levels. He had the pedigree coming into West Virginia but is starting to put together some strong performances offensively to go with his defense.
–Welcome back, Tre Mitchell! After really struggling the past few games, Mitchell was active on both ends but especially offensively. He looked like he wanted to make an impact on the offensive end from the start and his dunk on the breakaway is something that he hasn’t shown in a while. West Virginia simply needs Mitchell to play with more aggression and he did exactly that in this one and wasn’t settling for jumpers. He had 22 points in this one on 8-15 shooting. He had only scored 16 combined in his last three games on 6-19 shooting. Still want him to be more active on the glass, but you’ll take the scoring after the recent stretch of struggles. I do think some of it is simply just trusting himself at times and hopefully this game goes a long way toward accomplishing that. You won’t get 22 every night, but if you get the same approach there are bound to be some good things that happen.
–Yes, Mohamed Wague was called for a cheap technical after a dunk. But I’m not sure why he didn’t see more minutes in this game because he was a problem for Oklahoma State. Wague’s athleticism created some issues and he just played hard. Wague also had 4 rebounds and ran the floor well which has never been an issue. He is the best finisher around the rim in traffic out of the bigs but has to do the other stuff that’s going to keep him on the floor for Huggins.
–It’s hard not to like the way James Okonkwo plays the game. He played with great effort and had 5 rebounds in only 11 minutes. He’s got to find a way to stay out of foul trouble.
–Jimmy Bell is what he is at this point but in this game I do think he at least passed the basketball well with 3 assists and 0 turnovers. He is battling in the post and can score the ball at times, but as I’ve said before I do think it’s completely fair to suggest there are better options.
–You’ll take 20-25 from the line any day. But the Mountaineers are still struggling to finish around the basket at times going 11-21 around the rim.
–West Virginia isn’t dead yet despite it feeling like it at times. We can sit and nitpick all of the times this team has let games slip away but even with all of that the Mountaineers still are in the hunt for their goal of returning to the tournament. There’s a lot of basketball left and just finding a way to steal one of the next two could set up a massive game at home against Kansas State. You can see the potential of this team at times, but it’s maddening how inconsistent they are from game to game. It’s going to be no easy task, but at least West Virginia is playing for another day after finding a way to get some revenge at home against the Pokes.
