The day before West Virginia hit the floor for an exhibition matchup earlier this year, Malik Curry was still trying to find his stride.
After two seasons at Old Dominion, the 6-foot-1 guard opted to try his hand at the next level. He left the Monarchs's program in March, turning away from another year with the mid-major program and finding a new home in arguably the toughest conference in all of college basketball.
He sat in the Mountaineers's practice facility that day and, while wearing colors still somewhat foreign to him, told reporters that the leap came with its expected share of challenges.
"It’s definitely different," Curry said Oct. 28. "It’s just a lot harder playing here."
Based on his performance of late, that statement may no longer ring true for Curry. Over WVU's last two games, he's averaging 21 points per game — the most of any Mountaineer during that span.
And the success hasn't just come against mediocre competition. Curry led the Mountaineers in scoring both games, finishing with a season-high 23 points against No. 9 Kansas on Saturday and 19 points against No. 5 Baylor on Tuesday.
“He’s really competed," head coach Bob Huggins said.
After starting every game over his two seasons at Old Dominion, the beginning of Curry's stint in Morgantown saw him in a reserve role. While Kedrian Johnson has started each of the Mountaineers's 17 games at point guard this season, Curry has still seen his fair share of playing time, leading all reserves in minutes per game.
Why? In his time on the floor, Curry's versatility and leadership have been pushed to the forefront of his game. In addition to his offensive ability as a slasher, he's proven to be an asset in West Virginia's press defense, among other areas.
Simply put, Huggins says "he can do more" than just score the basketball.
"A guy like that, I think the great thing they do to help bigs is they make people help up," Huggins said. "You can’t stand back there because he’s good enough just to pull up and shoot it in. You have to come towards him. He’s got people coming forward which, really, should enable our guys in the back to be inside to rebound. The best way to rebound is to be the closest guy to the ball. If you’re inside, you should be the closest guy to the ball. You should be blocking those guys out and you have every advantage to block them out and get second shots. He does that for us."
Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, Curry's success hasn't led to overall success. West Virginia fell short in both matchups, losing by 26 to Kansas and nine to Baylor.
For Curry, that's just added motivation moving forward.
“My confidence is definitely high," Curry said after the Baylor game. "I’ve been playing really well but, as a team, we lost two games so I’m not doing enough in my mind. We’re not winning. If I play good, I play good but, at the end of the day, I just want to win. [...] Individual stats, that’s cool and all, but if we’re not winning it really doesn’t matter.”
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