During West Virginia's three-game losing streak, one common trend has been them starting slow.
Against Houston on Wednesday, WVU trailed 10-2. Against Kansas State last Saturday, WVU trailed 19-2. Against Arizona State last week, WVU trailed 10-2 as well.
"That’s completely on the players. Our coaches do everything they need to do to get us prepared for every single game plan, and they have terrific scouts. We just got to want it more. We haven’t arrived, and we know that, and we just have to play with more confidence on that defensive end," WVU's Toby Okani said.
West Virginia was trailing from the opening tip against Houston on Wednesday. The Cougars got out to an 8-0 lead in the opening two minutes, and they could never get back into the game, similar to what happened against Kansas State this past weekend for WVU.
Houston's eight-point lead turned into a 15-point lead with 10:48 to play in the first half, and the first half ended with Houston in front by 20.
"We just got to bring it. It’s on us at the end of the day, so we just got to figure out how we can get off to the best start we can," WVU's Joe Yesufu said.
The Mountaineers were able to battle in the second half, cutting Houston's lead to five on two separate occasions. Still, though, the first-half deficit was insurmountable for West Virginia.
"We definitely realize. Leads can change real quick. You go down five to down 20 real quick. We saw that in the first half but in the second half like I said, we picked it up, started playing harder, more disciplined, and that was the outcome," Yesufu said.
As far as how they hope to get off to faster starts, they believe it starts with their play on the defensive end. West Virginia forced five turnovers in the first half on Wednesday but forced the same number in the first seven minutes of the second half as they attempted to get back into the game.
"I just think defensively we got back to our identity. We just weren’t guarding in the first half, we weren’t being ourselves," Okani said.
WVU head coach Darian DeVries shared a similar sentiment about how the last three games have had slow starts. He says he hopes his team can take their second-half performance and carry it over, starting this weekend against Cincinnati.
"The first half felt like our last two games to be honest with you. We just haven’t played with the same spirit that we had prior to that. I thought the second half, if we’ll get back to that and do that for a full 40 minutes, we’re going to be right there right where we need to be to win games down the stretch," DeVries said.
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