Prior to Tuesday night’s 65-47 win for No. 17 West Virginia over Oklahoma State, head coach Bob Huggins opted for a change in the starting lineup.

The usual starters consisted of two bigs in Derek Culver and Oscar Tshiebwe along with forward Emmitt Matthews and guards Jordan McCabe and Jermaine Haley. But this time, the veteran coach decided to go with a smaller lineup, replacing Culver with guard Taz Sherman and McCabe with guard Miles McBride.

Both McBride and Sherman found out they’d be making their first and second starts, respectively, following the team’s road loss to top-ranked Baylor last Saturday, a game in which the Mountaineers struggled in all phases.

For Sherman, getting the opportunity to start was the culmination of his hard work and rhythm he had developed, scoring 20 points in the loss to Baylor after scoring none against Kansas.

“To us, it’s nothing new,” McBride said. “We see it on the daily in practice with the shots he makes… I think it’s just his confidence has grown and it’s carrying him well in the last couple games.”

The pair went about their normal preparations prior to the game, but being in the starting lineup forced McBride to make some adjustments.

Prior to his first start Tuesday, McBride had come off the bench in each game for the Mountaineers during the season and was able to get an early advantage by seeing what the opposing team was doing offensively and defensively before he’d check in.

But this time he had to adjust not only to what Oklahoma State was giving him, but also with who he was playing alongside with.

“It was a bigger adjustment just because I was coming in with different players,” McBride said. “Taz came in and Derek went out so just trying to understand how Taz plays as well as Emmitt and Jermaine and try to get them touches because they’re great with the ball and they can create for themselves and obviously I can, but as a starting point guard, you’re just trying to get them involved first before myself.”

“I think they came out and played a little bit more zone than I expected, but when I noticed after I came out a little bit I saw a couple gaps that opened up and knew we had to get the ball inside and play inside out,” he later added.

The true freshman also got some pointers from McCabe while he was on the floor and when McCabe was on the bench.

“Jordan is a great point guard,” McBride said. “I’m coming over to the side asking him what he’s seeing and things like that just because I know I’m not getting that same look off the bench, so he helps me out a lot. I trust him with all of this stuff. He’s very smart and he knows what he’s talking about.”

The new starting lineup in general did very little for the Mountaineers during the first half and as a result, Huggins went with a bigger lineup in the second half by inserting Culver and moving Haley to forward.

This move paid off as Culver and the Mountaineers dominated the second half, outscoring Oklahoma State, 37-14, and outrebounding Cowboys, 26-17.

“It didn’t seem like it helped us much,” Huggins said regarding the starting lineup change. “They (Oklahoma State) were really well-prepared. They took away everything that we wanted to do, and we didn’t handle it very well. You’re talking about a bunch of upperclassmen and a bunch of seniors, and they kind of overpowered our younger guys.”

“You can’t underestimate what Derek (Culver) did. You’re talking about a 6-foot-9, 200 and whatever he is. (A) 265 or 270-pound guy who can sit down to stay in front of people. Make them shoot over him, and then, when he wants to be a shot blocker, he can block shots,” Huggins added.

McBride led the team in shots attempts with 13 against Oklahoma State and scored nine of his 11 points during West Virginia’s big second half. Sherman finished with nine points against the Cowboys with seven of those coming in the first half. He was behind McBride with 11 shot attempts.

It’s unknown what starting lineup Huggins will roll with against TCU Saturday, but the rough first half for West Virginia with the smaller lineup against Oklahoma State doesn’t mean he’ll abandon that lineup.

Huggins said after the game that they’ll continue working with the lineup and believes that can get something out of it.

But one thing that will remain constant, according to Huggins, is his players determining their own playing time and those performing well earning more minutes on the floor.

“I don’t decide their playing time, they do and that’s what those guys sitting over on the bench gotta understand. I didn't do that, they did,” Huggins said.

“I'm just trying to win, man. I’m just trying to win. We had a miserable year last year. I promised the state of West Virginia we wouldn’t do that again--that we were going to get it going again, we were gonna be in the NCAA Tournament, we’re gonna be a good team, we’re gonna be ranked again and that’s more important to me.”

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