West Virginia has lost three of its last four games by a combined 12 points.
That stretch has placed the Mountaineers around the bubble when it comes to NCAA Tournament seeding but the team is tasked with finding ways to make up the difference in some of those defeats.
One area that has plagued West Virginia during that stretch has been at the foul line as the four opponents hold an 85-52 edge in attempts, while opponents have scored 69 points from there compared to 32.
Head coach Darian DeVries is focused on what he and his team can control, which means working on the areas where they can put themselves in a better position to not send teams to the line on defense and to get there on the offensive end of the floor.
On defense, the one area that West Virginia has a measure of control is the reaching fouls after defenders are in a good position and beat their man.
“Just don’t reach at the end. Some of those and there’s not a lot but there’s a few of those and when you’re talking about 2-3-4 of them in a game that you did a nice job and you’re in a good spot and now just finish it with some discipline at the end,” DeVries said.
Those bad fouls can add up to anywhere between 4-8 free throw attempts that the Mountaineers could eliminate, which has been the concern for the coaching staff.
DeVries has preached to his team to be physical and tough which is part of their identity on the defensive end, but it’s just a matter of cleaning up those reach fouls.
“That’s not being physical. That’s not being tough. You got to have a little more discipline at the end of it just to fight that urge to get that last little reach,” DeVries said. “That’s 4 or 6 points. That’s all we’re talking about.”
But when you consider that games are being decided by such a close margin those points certainly matter. That has made it key for West Virginia to do what they can to keep the opposition off the stripe.
“Where can we find those 2-4 points? And that’s an area where we’ve got to find it. We’ve got to keep them off the line and we’ve got to get to the line more,” DeVries said.
The head coach made it clear that he believes officials have a hard job to do and the Big 12 has a strong group that the league works with. DeVries respects the officials in the league, but it isn’t something he is worried about, instead, it’s about the job his team needs to do to get better.
And when it comes to getting to the line, West Virginia must improve when it comes to getting to the rim. Javon Small is the lead option there for the Mountaineers and the message to him has been to keep attacking because there are opportunities there for him to get to the line.
“He’s somebody that draws a lot of gravity so if there is contact he’ll get rewarded at some point,” he said.
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