Maturity, progress allow WVU to rise to the occasion once again
Once again, West Virginia has showcased its ability to rise to the occasion while facing adversity.
With 13:30 left to go in Saturday’s contest between West Virginia and Oklahoma, the Mountaineers lost their team leader in senior guard Jevon Carter, who sat on the bench with four fouls for nearly 10 minutes.
Despite Carter’s absence however, West Virginia didn’t miss a beat. The moment wasn’t too big for this young West Virginia team as the Mountaineers fought and held on for their most impressive win of the season yet.
How did this happen?
As seen in the past few games, most notably in the first three conference games , West Virginia has received a vast amount of production from its bench players, who have matured and grown up as the season has progressed, stepping up in place of starters in foul trouble or having an off night which happened to be the case against Oklahoma.
With Carter on the bench, West Virginia still held Oklahoma in check, out scoring the Sooners 25-15 during that near 10-minute span with Carter on the bench and 10 of those points coming from sophomore Sagaba Konate.
“We’ve kind of played that way all year,” West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins said. “I mean certainly what (Carter) does on the defensive end is special, but it hasn’t been all him.”
After the team’s 23-point loss in the season-opener against Texas A&M almost two months ago, Saturday’s scenario and result would’ve seemed unlikely, considering how fast West Virginia collapsed against the Aggies when things got away.
The same goes for the team’s narrow win against Pitt last month when Carter and fellow senior guard Daxter Miles both got into foul trouble in the second half and the Mountaineers nearly let an 18-point lead slip away, but both experiences have served as critical steps forward toward maturity and progression for the team.
One of the keys to shaping this turnaround has been establishing depth which according to Huggins, can only be achieved by giving players minutes.
“Everyone talks about depth, and how they don’t have depth, but if you don’t play them, then you don’t have depth,” Huggins said.
Since the Mountaineers started Big 12 play, numerous bench players have begun to emerge as key contributors as a result of receiving valuable minutes that have proven to be beneficial as far as experience and maturity go.
Among those that are beginning to emerge are sophomores Maciej Bender and James “Beetle” Bolden. Bender has played 35 minutes combined during West Virginia’s three conference matchups, scoring nine points to go along with 12 rebounds.
“I thought Maciej played some good minutes for us,” Huggins said. “The other guys that we are bringing in (are getting better).”
By far the most significant contribution from the bench has come from freshman Teddy Allen, who has consistently given the team sparks off the bench, scoring 57 points on 24-of-34 shooting in three conference games.
“We’ve always had somebody who could come in and change the game coming off the bench,” Huggins said. “I just feel more comfortable knowing there’s somebody I can reach down there and grab that can change the game back in our favor.”
West Virginia’s progression isn’t just limited to the team’s bench players. Miles has stepped up as a senior leader and starter especially when Carter isn’t on the floor and the Mountaineers are also more seeing more production on both the offensive and defensive ends from Konate, who is averaging 12.3 points per game and nine rebounds per game so far in conference play.
“(Konate’s) getting better and better,” Huggins said. “The game has slowed down a bit for him. At the defensive end, he’s pretty good.”
With one more game to play until junior forward Esa Ahmad’s return, Huggins will have plenty of options to consider once Saturday’s road matchup against Texas Tech arrives, but one thing is certain--Huggins isn’t concerned about the team’s maturity through 15 games.
“I have thought about incorporating Esa I think every day since we’ve started,” Huggins said. “I think they grew up a long time ago. We’ve won 14 in a row. They’ve grown up.”
