Things aren’t always going to be a smooth ride and head coach Darian DeVries understands that all too well. That’s why what unfolded against Massachusetts is a valuable early lesson for his club.
The Mountaineers held a 45-28 halftime lead largely built on the backs of the defense which they were able to turn into easy offensive scoring opportunities.
That resulted in 17 points off turnovers and 15 fast-break points as they were able to get out and run. The ball pressure was critical in opening up that early lead and the tenacity is exactly what the head coach wants to see out of his team.
“I thought the first half defensively we were really pretty good and because of that I thought it really affected our offense,” he said. “We were able to get out, get in transition after being able to create some turnovers and things,” DeVries said.
However, that wasn’t the case early in the second half as the Mountaineers struggled to get stops which allowed the Minutemen to cut into the deficit and force a tightly contested game down the stretch. Things were also more difficult on the offensive end as the team shot only 25-percent and there was an over six-minute stretch where West Virginia wouldn’t make a field goal.
Part of that is because West Virginia wasn’t able to get out in transition with just four points in the fast break and only five points off turnovers. This team wants to find ways to give themselves the best opportunities to score against a broken defense but you’re not going to be able to do that every night.
That makes a game like this one critical for the growth of the team.
“We’ve got to figure out even as a staff at times when they get us in the half court what do we have to do to give us some more opportunities to be successful,” DeVries said.
But yet again, the defense would rise up and get some stops down the stretch to close the 75-69 win.
“Some big plays there were able to get some stops to seal the game off,” he said.
The second half was a battle but DeVries liked the physicality that his team showed against a Massachusetts team that prides itself in that category. The program also was able to record a plus-two edge in the rebounding department but the biggest issue was with turnovers.
While the Mountaineers forced 15, they also coughed up 14 which allowed the game to remain close.
But finding ways to win is never easy and the fact that this team did that is nothing to apologize for regardless how the game ended. And it also provides a great learning experience moving forward for this team as the schedule is only going to get more difficult.
“I’d rather have done it a different way but yeah every game is going to bring a new set of learning opportunities for us. I thought tonight late, game it got close. What I did like is you could feel it right? Crowd knew all knew it, too. A big lead slipped away and I thought our guys responded well down the stretch and were able to get us to a point where we got it back up double digits again,” DeVries said.
Things aren’t always going to be perfect but finding a way to win is the key and West Virginia did that.
“Some nights you have to figure out a way, like when it’s not going well and we’re not making shots that we can still find a way to win that game,” DeVries said.
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