CLEVELAND – Chase Harler’s impact on the floor goes far beyond what you see on the stat sheet.
Harler, one of three seniors on West Virginia’s roster this season, is averaging just 4.5 points per game through 12 games this year and is eighth on the team in that category.
But despite some of his struggles on the offensive side of the floor this season the Moundsville, West Virginia native though has been a valuable asset and leader for the Mountaineers this season on the other end of the court.
This was the case during No. 22 West Virginia’s eight-point win over the No. 2-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes inside the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Sunday with Harler and West Virginia holding the Buckeyes to a season-low 59 points.
He also scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting (his first game scoring in double figures this season) along with a block in 24 minutes on the floor. Harler was one of two West Virginia players to finish in double figures, the other being Miles McBride, who scored a game-high 21 points.
“Chase played really, really well,” head coach Bob Huggins said. “You can’t hardly measure what he means to us because he knows everything. He did a great job of coaching on the floor, he made open shots and he may be our best on the ball defender. I’ve been elated with what he’s given us.”
Some of Harler’s shots came at pivotal points during the game.
Two of his made jump shots, which included a three-pointer, were part of a 6-0 run for the Mountaineers during the first half that gave them their first lead since scoring the first points of the game. His second three-pointer of the game started another key 6-0 run for West Virginia during the second half and a fastbreak layup late in the game helped ice the program's first win over a top-5 opponent since 2017.
Saturday was the second game this season in which Harler made more than one three-pointer, the other time being the loss to St. John’s inside Madison Square Garden on Dec. 7.
For Harler, the opportunity to make key plays in a big game was special.
“I’ve been a part of (big games) when I was in my freshman and sophomore year,” Harler said. “But I wasn’t playing a ton so to get out there and make an impact, it’s a great feeling.”
West Virginia’s struggles with outside shooting last season prompted Huggins to bring in two top junior college scorers in Sean McNeil and Taz Sherman.
The expectation was for those two along with Harler to be the team’s top perimeter shooters which would open up more opportunities in the post for big men Derek Culver and Oscar Tshiebwe, but things didn’t really go according to plan at first.
“We thought coming into the season we were going to be a really good perimeter shooting team and then we’ve struggled a little bit,” Huggins said.
“Taz has really shot it well in practice and Sean shot it well. Chase has really shot it well and so I think with those guys you can spread everything out and that’s what we thought we can spread everything out. We could attack their inside people and it didn’t work out that way.”
However, these three have turned it up over the past few games with Harler scoring a season-high 10 points against Ohio State and McNeil and Sherman accounting for eight total three-pointers in the past three games combined.
This season, Harler is currently shooting a career-best 48.8 percent from the floor and has a high basketball IQ that has benefited both he and his teammates on the floor.
“He had a great summer I think for one,” Huggins said. “He’s always if not the first guy in the gym, one of the first guys in the gym and I mean he’s got a great attitude. He’s blessed in that he’s a really smart kid. He understands I think what a lot of other guys may not understand and he’s been here. This is year four. Year four, you oughta know what you’re doing.”
While playing with former West Virginia basketball stars Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles Jr., Harler said he learned not to get too high or too low during big games and is doing his best to pass that on to the rest of the young West Virginia team.
With Saturday’s upset win in the books, Harler believes the Mountaineers made a statement and like the rest of the team, he’s looking to build off the momentum heading into Saturday’s road matchup against No. 3 Kansas, a program West Virginia has never beaten on the road.
“We just have a will to win and I think we’ve come to show that all year," Harler said. “It’s my senior year so it’s kind of the last go-around. I gotta be confident. This might be the last time I get to play basketball, so just going to keep shooting them.”
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