West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries was confident that eventually, the shots would fall.
They certainly did in the rematch against TCU as the Mountaineers shot 52-percent from the floor and 42-percent from three with 17 assists on 27 made baskets in a critical 73-55 win inside the Coliseum.
“I was hoping it was a matter of time. We’re getting close to that time where it’s like we’re running out of time, but I thought that’s kind of what we envisioned with these guys and these shooters and I still think there’s more there,” DeVries said. “Getting a couple other guys going down the stretch will be huge for us, too, but that makes such a difference for us when we can set our defense after made shots.”
Senior guard Javon Small led the way with 23 points, 10 assists and 5 rebounds, while the Mountaineers also got a strong contribution from senior guard Joe Yesufu with 14 points and 6 rebounds as well as a career-high scoring output from sophomore guard Sencire Harris with 13 points and 5 rebounds.
Harris was especially effective in the first half scoring 11 of those points and was aggressive attacking the rim and generating offense in a variety of ways for the Mountaineers.
“I thought he was just great all around tonight and I thought he really impacted the game at both ends of the floor. Offensively in that first half and then the whole game defensively,” DeVries said.
The sophomore guard has been working hard to improve his overall offensive game by focusing on not only his catch-and-shoot opportunities but getting in the paint and finishing at the mid-range level.
“Now he's just playing, and that's what we need from him. We know what we're going to get on defense, and now offensively we're getting him a little bit more in attack mode, a little more confident, and that's really helped our offense,” DeVries said.
While the offense was crisp, the head coach was most excited about the effort of the defense early in the game. That’s because after the Mountaineers fell behind 5-0 and they used a 23-2 run that included an over eight-minute stretch where the Horned Frogs didn’t score to seize control of the game.
During that stretch, the Mountaineers were able to generate offense in the open floor in transition and break the game open after starting off struggling to put the ball in the basket. While TCU did finish the game with 34 points in the paint, West Virginia made it difficult for them around the basket making just 13-26 attempts.
Overall, TCU shot just 37-percent in the second half and just 21-percent from three in the game.
“So, when you’re trying to close out a game, when you have a lead like that, I thought we did a good job of extending that lead and then holding onto it on the defensive end,” he said.
Defense has been the calling card for West Virginia all season in large part because it’s the one thing that they can constantly control and that paid off in this meeting in a big way.
“It was amazing. I tell these guys all the time, when we all hooked up, there's nobody in the nation that can handle it,” Harris said.
West Virginia was aggressive with the TCU guard combo of Vasean Allette and Noah Reynolds and was able to keep them from getting downhill to the rim by holding the pair to just 10 points after they combined for 42 points in the Horned Frogs 65-60 win.
“I thought the backside of our defense was much better than the first time we played them. I thought our guys did a much better job of helping keep them in front, and then our gap help and gap presence was really good too,” DeVries said.
The victory puts West Virginia now at 17-11 overall and 8-9 in the Big 12 Conference with three games remaining on the schedule beginning with a road trip to BYU followed by one at Utah. So, the significance of this win wasn’t lost on anybody associated with the Mountaineers basketball program.
“It doesn’t mean your season is over if you lose it, but it certainly puts you in a tougher spot. I thought the guys came out with a great mindset tonight. They know they’re playing for something,” DeVries said.
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