And now all the West Virginia basketball team can do is wait.
The Mountaineers entered the Big 12 Tournament with momentum at their backs, winning three of the final four games to qualify as the No. 8 seed in the field.
But it was one and done for head coach Darian DeVries and his team as West Virginia squandered a 13-point first half lead to fall to No. 16 seed Colorado 67-60.
It was a game that West Virginia appeared to be in control of, leading 46-37 with 9:30 remaining but from that point forward things came unraveled and so did any opportunity at a deep run in the tournament.
Now sitting at 19-13 overall, the ability to further bolster the overall resume is now out of their hands and the Mountaineers can sit back and await their fate on Selection Sunday.
Coming into Wednesday, West Virginia was safely in the field in all major projected brackets but there’s no question that a 20th win would have all but erased any semblance of doubt. That may very well still be the case considering the strong metrics that the Mountaineers have at this stage, but it’s a lost opportunity.
DeVries made it clear that his team was disappointed in the loss and how it happened.
“We can’t change that now. The biggest thing for us is we’re going to have another opportunity to play and we’re going to get a chance to go back and regroup,” he said.
West Virginia boasts six quadrant one wins to their credit and suffered zero quadrant three or four losses on the season. Even the loss to the Buffaloes was a quadrant two defeat on a neutral floor, although it certainly felt worse given their standing.
Overall, 10 of their 13 losses for West Virginia came in quadrant one games while the program was 4-3 in quadrant two opportunities showcasing the difficulty of the overall schedule. Still, the last impression the Mountaineers gave certainly wasn’t one that the program wanted to highlight for the committee.
West Virginia was projected as the last No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament field prior to the Colorado loss and it’s fair to wonder if what unfolded could ultimately cost them a seed line or two. Or perhaps even more depending on what unfolds in the rest of the leagues across the country.
Still, the overall resume checks a lot of boxes and while the performance in Kansas City isn’t what anybody associated with the program wanted to see, there is still the possibility of redemption.
As long as the committee agrees.
“Like we have all year, we’re going to reset and focus on some things we need to clean up from this game. But more importantly, comeback and get our minds right and get ready to go try and make a run,” DeVries said.
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