The time is now for West Virginia
After West Virginia’s disastrous collapse against No. 3 Kansas this past Monday night, fans may be wondering what’s next for the Mountaineers and debating whether or not the team truly has what it takes to have success in the Big 12 or NCAA tournaments.
The Mountaineers had a golden opportunity to earn its first ever win at Allen Fieldhouse, be the first team to sweep Bill Self since 2000 and solidify themselves as the team to beat in the Big 12.
That all vanished in the final three minutes of regulation when the Jayhawks outscored the Mountaineers 21-7 to force overtime and shock West Virginia.
Now for the sixth time this season, West Virginia will to rebound once again but this one may be the most critical one of them all. Getting a win against Texas Tech this Saturday at the Coliseum is absolutely imperative for the Mountaineers.
When you look at it on paper, the loss to Kansas at the Phog may be viewed as a good one considering Kansas’ domination at home and the inability of visiting teams to win Lawrence. Since Bill Self came to Kansas in 2003, the Jayhawks have won all but 10 games at home.
West Virginia controlled every aspect of that game until the final three minutes of regulation and even outshot and out rebounded the Jayhawks for the game.
The inability to keep its foot on the gas pedal and lack of consistency in a number of areas including free throws cost the Mountaineers again and have in all six losses which have been winnable games. Consistency has been the story for West Virginia all season but it looked as if West Virginia panicked as the Kansas started to make a comeback.
“We just didn’t handle the pressure very well,” West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins said.
When a team suffers a collapse similar to what West Virginia did, it has the potential to be an absolute killer as far as team morale, confidence and momentum go and can make way for a horrendous end to the season.
The good thing is that it’s not March yet. Though college basketball is coming down the final stretch of regular season play, the Mountaineers still have the chance to develop the consistency they’ve been lacking as well as go on a hot streak.
Take the 2010-2011 UConn Huskies for example.
The Huskies closed out the regular season losing four of their last five games but their performance in the Big East tournament sparked an 11-game win streak on rout to a Big East championship and a national championship.
All it takes is just one win, but that win is needed for West Virginia on Saturday. A loss could cause a further decline in West Virginia’s performance down the final stretch of the regular season and into tournament play.
A revenge win against Texas Tech has the potential to spark a hot streak for West Virginia and would put the Mountaineers at 21-6 on the season, the same record through 27 games as the 2009-2010 West Virginia team that made it to the final four.
It’s too early for fans to throw in the towel on the Mountaineers and as March as proved that any given team can hit their stride come tournament time but a rebound win will be needed in helping the Mountaineers rally and make a run in the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments.
“We just got to regroup,” senior forward Nathan Adrian said. “Got to move forward and win the next six and make a run in the tournament."