Travel, preparation contributing to WVU’s skid
There are many reasons for why West Virginia has dropped five out of its last six games.
If you ask head coach Bob Huggins, some of the main reasons lie within the team’s inability to fully execute its signature press and make shots, but there’s another reason that could go overlooked.
“In fairness to our guys, the schedule’s been tough,” Huggins said. “We’ve played really good people and we have the most one-day turnarounds than anybody in the league. Now, you combine that with our travel schedule, that’s rough.”
Through the first 16 games of the season, West Virginia played only three ranked teams and came away with a 2-1 record in those games--defeating Virginia and Oklahoma, but falling in the season-opener to Texas A&M.
Within their last six games, the Mountaineers have had to face stiffer and more competitive challenges which included four teams who rank in the top 25 in RPI.
Excluding the AdvoCare Invitational earlier this season, the Mountaineers have had two one-day turnarounds and five total this season.
This is where the long travel plays a role.
West Virginia had only one day to fly from Lubbock after playing then-No. 10 Texas Tech on a Saturday afternoon to then prepare for and play then-No. 8 Kansas back in Morgantown the following Monday.
The Mountaineers faced a similar situation that following week, but this time they had to travel from Morgantown after facing Texas on a Saturday to Fort Worth to play TCU on Monday.
How has West Virginia fared in those one day turnarounds?
So far, the Mountaineers are 0-2 this season on Big Monday games following a Saturday game and are 1-4 on Monday’s following a one-day turnaround in the past two seasons combined. That one win came against Texas last season, but the Mountaineers hosted back-to-back games during that one-day turnaround and didn’t travel.
West Virginia traveled between its Saturday game and Monday game in each of those four losses.
Although West Virginia’s schedule and travel have had an impact on the team’s most recent skid, it’s not the entire problem relating to the team’s recent struggles according to Huggins.
“Nobody flies as far and as long as we do,” Huggins said. “That’s part of it. That’s not all of it.”
According to the longtime coach, the way his team has practiced has also played a significant role into its three-game losing streak.
“To me, we looked tired,” Huggins said. “Now, it’s not because practice because we haven’t really practiced. Honestly, I’d have to have a chair and a whip to get them to practice hard because they stopped practicing hard awhile ago.”
The schedule ahead and travel doesn’t get any easier especially in a conference that’s competitive from top to bottom.
West Virginia will have travel to Norman to face Oklahoma on Monday following this Saturday’s contest against Kansas State at the Coliseum, but will catch somewhat of a break for its last two one-day turnarounds with back-to-back home matchups against Oklahoma State and TCU next week and then Iowa State and Texas near the end of this month.
In the meantime, it’s unknown what exactly it’s going to take to get the Mountaineers out of this skid. Even with 40 years of coaching under his belt, Huggins admitted that he doesn’t have any solutions at this time.
“Everybody’s got answers, but me,” Huggins said. “I don’t have any answers. I’m not going to lie about it, I don’t have any.”
