Another quick turnaround, leaves little time for WVU to dwell
If there is a silver lining for West Virginia after dropping an 88-85 game at home to Oklahoma State, it’s the fact that they won’t have to wait long for the opportunity to get the bad taste out of their mouth.
Another quick one-day turnaround won’t erase what happened Saturday but could help to not let the emotions of that game further stew.
The Mountaineers led by as many as eight in the second half and by two with just over 30-seconds remaining but couldn’t hold serve leaving yet another what if in a season that is starting to be filled by them.
It was the third home loss in fifth games and effectively canceled out the momentum that the program generated after winning on the road at Oklahoma. To win this league you can’t afford to drop games at home and two of the program’s five conference losses have come inside the Coliseum.
The Mountaineers managed to shoot 52-percent for the game, but couldn’t get the necessary stops on the defensive end allowing the Cowboys to score 88 points on 70 possessions.
But there isn’t time, quite literally, to dwell on what happened. Because a TCU team that knocked off the Mountaineers already on the road will be coming to town for the rematch.
“We’ve got to get back on track now. This one is behind us,” sophomore James Bolden said.
There was a caveat however.
“You always want to protect your house,” he said.
With the one-day turnaround, senior guard Jevon Carter, who scored a career high 33-points in the defeat, had only one expectation for how the lone practice would unfold prior to hosting TCU.
“Hard,” he said before reiterating that the Oklahoma State game is in the past.
Junior forward Esa Ahmad realizes that the margin for error is now as small as it’s been this season with the Mountaineers one-game back on Kansas for second place and two on Texas Tech for first. To put it simply, if the program wants to win the league it can’t lose games it’s supposed to win.
“We’ve got to come in tomorrow, be positive, attentive and get the win on Monday,” he said. “The next game is a must win and every game from now. So it’s big for us.”
It’s easy to think this game could serve as the reason the Mountaineers aren’t able to seriously challenge down the stretch for the Big 12 regular season crown but it isn’t that easy. In fact, if West Virginia can hold serve at home and steal a game or two on the road things could get interesting.
Head coach Bob Huggins was asked about the damage the latest home loss could do to those chances to unseat Kansas as the class of the league and he felt much of the same.
“Depends on what happens on Monday and then the Saturday after that. It wasn’t just another day, it’s never just another day,” he said. “I don’t lie to you guys. I told you they didn’t practice very well.”
They don’t have a choice but do to better for Monday if they want to remain in the hunt.
