West Virginia's seven-game winning streak was snapped on Tuesday night when they lost 75-56 to Arizona.
The Wildcats shot 51 percent from the field, and had 36 points in the paint, as the Mountaineers consistently struggled to keep up in the loss.
"To be honest with you, no I don’t think it was a matter of shots not falling. I didn’t think we were as physical and aggressive as we have been and what’s helped us be successful to this point in the season. Our formula is the same, we feel that way all the time. We have to play a certain way to be successful. We understand our margin for error is not very big. If we deviate from that at all, these are the results we get. We have to be the one that wins that battle and tonight we didn’t," West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries said.
The Mountaineers were out-rebounded 40-31, and the Wildcats had nine second-chance points. West Virginia would force only eight turnovers, tied for the fewest number of turnovers forced this season.
DeVries said he feels as though Arizona was able to dictate the level of physicality in the game. He also felt as though his team was reacting to what the Wildcats did rather than the opposite, something he says his team did well during their win streak.
"They did a good job. They were well prepared and they were very physical. They did a nice job disrupting us from getting to spots and I thought defensively they did a good job on that. We just didn’t match that, I didn’t think at the other and that’s where I think we’ve been really good. I felt like a good portion of the year outside a loss early in the year, we’ve been kind of the ones that’s been disruptive and getting people off their spots, and tonight I felt like that got reversed. For us to win, we’ve got to win that battle and our guys understand that," DeVries said.
The guard play for the Wildcats made the difference. KJ Lewis scored 21 points and the Mountaineers struggled to slow down him, Caleb Love, or Jaden Bradley.
DeVries said they tried to adjust throughout the game but each time they adjusted Arizona would have an answer for what they did.
West Virginia cut Arizona's lead to five in the second half but could never string together stops to fully get themselves back into the game. DeVries said that goes back to them playing together as one on defense and Arizona was able to keep them spread out.
"That’s how you get the stops is to be able to do that, to play physical and connected. That’s where there were times tonight we just got spread out. We’ve been really good being able to cover for one another and plug up those driving lanes and still get out to those perimeter shooters. I thought tonight they were able to split us a lot and get into the paint and now they’re getting at the rim and getting kick-out threes. So, now you’re in real trouble, now they can get lobs, and all that stuff," DeVries said.
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