Derek Culver didn’t have a single double-double on the season until the Rhode Island game.

Including that performance, the sophomore has done in three of the last four.

“Derek decided he was going to play,” head coach Bob Huggins said.

Over that four game span, Culver has averaged 14.2 points and 12.5 rebounds per contest doing exactly what his veteran head coach wanted to see out of him coming into the season. The Ohio native has played 36 career games at West Virginia and now has recorded double-digit rebounds in 18 of them.

Rebounding has always come easy, but his improvements on the offensive end especially scoring and passing the basketball has started to set him apart.

“If you all knew how far he’s come. He’s come a long, long way and he continues to get better. We’ve just got to get him to slow down a little bit,” Huggins said. “He catches it at the foul line and makes that jump shot it makes him even harder to guard.”

It’s taken some adjusting from Culver, who has had to learn how to play with fellow big man freshman Oscar Tshiebwe. Because he is still learning on the fly, it’s taken some patience out of Culver in order to make sure that he’s in the right spot along with instructing Tshiebwe on the fly.

For the first time this season, both players recorded a double-double against Nicholls after the two seemingly switching off from game to game.

“I feel like we took our time in the moves we wanted to make and with that patience came opportunity to score,” he said.

Culver has always been a willing passer but is now starting to understand some of the nuances of being able to distribute the ball from the high post.

“People really don’t realize when you get the ball in the post you’re moving the defense with your eyes. Just doing moves like that ball fake, fake a pass to make a pass,” he said.

It’s taken some time, but Culver seems to be settling in during his second season and could be primed for a significant leap with the meat of the schedule remaining.

WATCH: Musings from the Mountains | WVU Football and Basketball Q&A | Episode 52

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