West Virginia led all but a little over two minutes of game-time in the win over Northern Colorado but it certainly didn’t feel like it once the clock hit zeroes.
The final score read 69 to 61 and the Mountaineers are now 3-0 for the first time since 2016 but things were dicey for a bit. And they didn't need to be.
The Mountaineers led 54-42 with 10:28 left to play and had been able to keep Bears at a distance at a comfortable distance for much of the game, but couldn’t put it away. Lapses on the defensive end led to a 12-0 run and suddenly the home club was in an unexpected dog fight down the stretch.
It was a fight that West Virginia would eventually win as they’d respond with a 10-0 run of their own, but the fact it was even at that stage was an issue. So much so that head coach Bob Huggins used a late timeout as an opportunity to make sure his team knew it.
“Not sure what I can say what I said in the huddle to this group. I wasn’t very happy,” he said.
There’s always some natural let down in those situations, but the trick is preventing that from affecting the play on the floor and letting things get sloppy.
The Mountaineers allowed the Bears opportunities at straight line drives and were inconsistent on the offensive end which prevented them from being able to ice the game when they had the opportunity.
It isn’t the worst result considering the outcome in the early season portion of the slate, but it is a lesson that if this team doesn’t play focused basketball for a full 40-minutes bad things can happen.
It’s a lesson that West Virginia can get away with against some of the opponents in the early season non-conference slate, but repeat mistakes might not end up as fortunate.
The good news is that it was the defensive end that spearheaded the close to the game as well as the Mountaineers were able to apply good ball pressure and prevent those drives to the rim that resulted in easy baskets or open looks for a gritty Northern Colorado team.
“We need games like that so it can test our adversity but we responded well,” senior guard Jermaine Haley said.
Haley isn’t wrong and there are lessons that can be taken from every game but that is especially true when you win. Winning cures a lot of ills and outside of some heartburn there isn’t anything wrong with being tested with a relatively young team in the early portion of the schedule.
“I think it’s good for us, absolutely good for us,” Huggins said.
Well, with a caveat.
“It’s good for us when you win, it’s not very good when you lose,” he added.
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