Huggins: 'We're just trying to survive right now'
A three-game losing streak isn’t the only thing that West Virginia has to overcome against Kansas State on Saturday.
According to head coach Bob Huggins, at least five players on the team have been sick with the flu and some have been in and out of the hospital. These players include, sophomores Lamont West, Chase Harler, James “Beetle” Bolden, Wesley Harris and senior Daxter Miles Jr. Huggins himself has also been affected.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had this many guys sick at one time,” Huggins said. “I’ve never really seen anything like this and it just seems like every day it’s a new guy.”
This sickness impacted the Mountaineers during Monday night’s 93-77 loss to Iowa State in Ames.
Miles was sidelined for Wednesday night’s loss against the Cyclones due to an illness and West was replaced by junior forward Esa Ahmad in the starting lineup, but still played 23 minutes, scoring three points on 1-of-6 shooting.
West Virginia allowed a season-high 93 points against Iowa State and forced a season-low eight turnovers. It was also the first time West Virginia had surrendered 90 or more points in a single game since falling to Kansas, 91-65, on Mar. 2, 2013.
“I don’t think there was any doubt at the Iowa State game,” Huggins said. “We had no legs. (We’re going to) try and save as much energy as we can.”
The length of the sickness has varied among the players.
It all started with Harler, but he was able to make progress towards a recovery within a couple of days. Miles on the other hand, has been sick for roughly five or six days and didn’t travel with the team to Ames.
“(Daxter) is really feeling bad,” Huggins said. “He still sounds and looks terrible.”
At this time, no one has been ruled out for tomorrow’s contest against the Wildcats.
“I don’t know,” Huggins said when asked if anyone had been ruled out. “I won’t know until tomorrow.”
The Mountaineers may now have limited numbers for tomorrow’s game against Kansas State. According to Huggins, he believed that the team wouldn’t have 10 players practicing on Friday.
“I worry about having enough guys,” Huggins said. “If it continues the way it’s going, they’ll be someone else sick tomorrow.”
According to Huggins, himself and the rest of the team took Theraflu after Harler was affected, but it helped very little in preventing them to get sick. Flu shots have also been ruled out of the equation.
“The flu shots don’t do you any good,” Huggins said. “This is a different strand of flu.”
The Mountaineers have dropped five out of their last six games and are in need of a win to get back on track and end their current three-game skid, but with the flu affecting the team the way it has so far, the game plan has changed into a simple one.
”I think we’d certainly would approach it different if we were well,” Huggins said. “We’re just trying to survive right now.”
