West Virginia’s Sencire Harris is known for his on-ball intensity on defense.
Against TCU on Tuesday, Harris brought it not only on the defensive end of the floor but the offensive end as well, helping spark an important win for West Virginia.
“We brought that energy when [we’re] hyped, and [we’re] upbeat, good things happen to us. The basketball gods always reward us,” Harris said.
West Virginia trailed 5-0 early but then went on an 18-0 run, sparked by their defensive pressure on the Horned Frogs. That run set them up for the remainder of the game, but it was Harris who jump-started that run on offense.
“We got off a little bit of a clunky start there, 5-0, and then I thought Sincere was really good, was aggressive, attacking the rim, playing in the open floor. I thought he just was great all around tonight, and I thought he really impacted the game at both ends of the floor offensively in that first half and then the whole game defensively,” WVU head coach Darian DeVries said.
Harris’ energy seemed to be contagious not just for the guys on the court, but for the guys off it as well. That was none more evident than when Eduardo Andre dove on the floor for a loose ball and DeVries would be so amped up he picked up Andre off the floor as he called a timeout and kept possession with the Mountaineers.
“That's why when I'm high energy and I'm upbeat, that's when my teammates are hitting shots and everything. I think everything is going great for me, defensively and offensively,” Harris said.
Nicknamed ‘Buck,’ Harris has certainly led the charge for West Virginia as of late. On Tuesday though he did so in a different way — on offense. Harris scored 11 points in the first half, before finishing with a career-high 13. Harris knows his job is to be a pest on defense, and any success on offense is just a cherry on top.
“I think he just likes playing defense. I mean, offense is just like an added bonus for him,” DeVries said.
Harris has come a long way offensively. After starting the season about as cold as anyone can be from beyond the arc, Harris has started to buck those trends. He has now scored at least seven points in a game in three of his last five games after doing it just seven times over WVU’s first 25 games.
“You can see these last few weeks, he's started to break loose of that. Now he's just playing, and that's what we need from him. We know what we're going to get on defense, and now offensively we're getting him a little bit more in attack mode, a little more confident, and that's really helped our offense,” DeVries said.
Harris’ confidence could go a long way for this team, and he’s starting to get the feeling himself that he’s turned a corner.
“It just feels good that I'm starting to get that confidence again,” Harris said.
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