West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins pulled out a piece of paper and read down a list of what he simply referred to as disturbing offensive statistics.

On uncontested field goals the Mountaineers are 54-169 or 32-percent for the season. On catch and shoot, step-in shots that total is 73-243 or 30-percent.

Even more troubling is that on uncontested catch and shoot, step-in shots that total drops to 25-percent on 22-89 from the floor.

But what’s the culprit?

Surely, the law of averages could lead to more success for the Mountaineers in those departments over the course of the season, right? Well maybe so, but not until one area drastically improves first and it’s one that’s plagued West Virginia for much of the year.

“I think a good portion of those statistics are bad passes,” Huggins said.

West Virginia made 22 baskets against Texas Tech but only had 5 assists on those scores as the ball was stagnant for stretches during the game on the offensive end. But how does poor passing lead to bad shooting numbers? It isn’t a difficult connection.

“Great passers make even bad shooters, decent shooters because you’re shooting everything from the pocket,” Huggins said.

Too often West Virginia is not putting passes where shooters can limit movement either too low or too high which throws more chances for error into those attempts. If you’re consistently fielding the ball in different places, it in turn makes it harder to consistently make shots off those passes.

And it isn’t just misplaced passes, sometimes it is missing open players altogether.

“How about just flat missing wide open guys cutting to the basket? We just don’t pass the ball very well,” he said. “Now is that experience? I sure hope so, I would think so,” Huggins said.

That experience angle is one that is important to note because according to Huggins West Virginia is last in all of power five basketball in that department. Overall, the Mountaineers are 300th nationally in regards to experience so it’s not just that Huggins’ club is young, but very young.

“Does it make a difference? Sure, it makes a difference,” he said.

When West Virginia has performed well offensively, passing has been a major reason for that. Now the concern becomes making that a consistent thing. And that seems easier said than done.

“We can’t pass and we’re not making step in shots,” Huggins said.

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