West Virginia must get better as Big 12 play looms

West Virginia didn’t play their best basketball against Stony Brook and head coach Bob Huggins let his team know it.

The Mountaineers put together a poor performance in the final game before the holiday break which is natural considering the players were likely looking ahead to spending time with their families.

But that doesn’t excuse it as the basketball team won’t have the chance to sleepwalk through the upcoming schedule with Big 12 Conference play set to begin right before the New Year.

“Depends on how much you want to play doesn’t it? You play that bad then you’re more excited about getting home than getting better then you probably ought to stay home,” Huggins said.

Huggins saw a team that didn’t pass the ball to open guys, gave up straight line drives on defense, didn’t rebound the ball and fouled excessively throughout the contest. That is a formula that won’t work against a team that is the caliber of Kansas State in the Big 12.

“It was pathetic. It was a bad performance as a team,” senior guard Erik Stevenson said.

The situation will be different, but the Mountaineers have to play better and be more prepared mentally if they want better results. It was a classic trap game, but that doesn’t excuse what unfolded.

It’s something that Stevenson could sense in warmups and while he’s always telling players to lock in given his experience the results haven’t been up to par over the last two. The Mountaineers know what they need to work on moving forward and now it’s about doing it.

“If we do that the next two games we’ll be 0-2 in Big 12 play,” Stevenson said.

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