Routt makes most of his minutes in WVU win over Baylor
It was an uncharacteristically off night for one West Virginia big, but another stepped up in his place.
Redshirt sophomore Logan Routt turned in a career high 17-minutes for West Virginia after initially being called upon after starter Sagaba Konate struggled to stay on the floor with foul trouble. That's more minutes than the previous three games combined.
He made the most of it.
While the box score only lists two points, two rebounds and an assist, it was Routt that finished +24 for the game the highest total on the team. That’s because he knew his role and what to do.
"He was the x-factor in my eyes," senior guard Daxter Miles said.
On both ends of the floor, Routt bodied up Baylor center Jo Lual-Acuil. On defense the goal was to make sure he couldn’t catch the ball and kept him away from the basket. Mission accomplished as he only finished with four total points in 29 minutes of action, two of those before Routt took the floor.
Offensively, Routt played his role to perfection where he was asked to pin down on Lual-Acuil, the centerpiece of the Bears zone given his length, and create opportunities for others to score the basketball. Down screens were his game.
“Screen the middle man in the zone to open up the whole paint,” he said. “That’s what we were trying to do with Esa (Ahmad), Wes (Harris), Lamont (West), whoever it was that was flashing.”
The tactic helped pave the way for others to get easy baskets as he would seal him off and prevent the Baylor big man from helping over as he had to fight through Routt to do it. His size again helped.
The third part of the equation came on the glass, as although Routt didn’t end up with the statistics, he again played his part in making sure the Mountaineers did as a team. For the first time in three tries this year, West Virginia outrebounded the Bears 37-31 and his efforts made a difference.
It was an emphasis all week and it paid off.
That’s because Routt again made sure to body up whatever Baylor big he was matched up against and prevent them from rebounding the ball to allow his teammates to help clean it up. Like the Mountaineers, Baylor sends guys opposite of the shot and Routt understands his job in that scenario.
“I just try to push my guys under the rim,” he said.
“I’m just going to keep my man from rebounding it every time,” he added.
West Virginia has struggled to find consistent production behind Konate this season, but Routt was ready when asked to perform.
That’s a big step in the right direction.
