Well, it’s been almost 24 hours. Has Jamie Dixon cancelled all future dates with West Virginia University?
The former Pitt coach, who famously backed out of the Backyard Brawl before slinking away from Pantherville, saw his Texas Christian University team shellacked 81-49 Tuesday in a game that was never in doubt.
TCU came into Morgantown with a sparkling 12-3 record, 3-0 in the Big 12 and flirting with first place. The Horned Frogs hadn’t yet faced anything like the Mountaineers, though, and may have some work to do to stay in the upper level of this league. WVU is now 14-2, 3-1 and enjoying life on the home boards.
There was a lot to like about this one for Mountaineer fans.
The defense, as always, was special. TCU was held to 14 field goals and had 20 turnovers, and the Frogs shot seven for 23 from three-point land despite leading the Big 12 in treys made (9.8 per game) and percentage (36.8) coming in.
Offensively, it was one of WVU’s best of the year. The Mountaineers shot 57.7 percent from the floor and rode the undying strength of sophomore center Derek Culver and a hyper-active bench to victory. Culver finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and just one turnover against overmatched TCU.
But it was the rich pool of reserves that keeps WVU coming at you. Down 9-7 at 13:40 in the first half, Coach Bob Huggins sent in his second five and savored the flavor as Chase Harler, Brandon Knapper, Miles McBride, Logan Routt and Gabe Osabuohien sparked a 12-2 run. Huggins then sent Culver and Oscar Tshiebwe back out with the three reserve guards, and the lead widened. Enter Taz Sherman and Sean McNeil, who finally recovered his shooting touch, and it was a 37-23 spread at the half.
WVU had gone 12-deep in the first half, and Texas Christian was frazzled. The Mountaineer defense is unrelenting. Fatigue isn’t a factor because the players came at you in waves.
Depth matters. Quality depth is killer. Huggins’ crew was up 14 at the half, and the starting five had just 11 points. For the game, WVU’s bench outscored TCU’s 39-6.
There is room for improvement, of course, and Huggins is on it. He isn’t happy with the rotations and switching on the defense, and is always wanting more effort on the boards, even though WVU outrebounded TCU 38-24.
Offensively, the Mountaineers would love to get starting fowards Jermaine Haley and Emmitt Matthews back on track.
Haley, who I thought was the team’s second-best player after Culver last season, had more bounce last night and finished with 11 points. He has seemed a tad lethargic lately. I’m not sure if there’s an injury involved but if so, nobody is saying anything. Haley likes the left low post and has a dandy drop-step, but the Mountaineers need him facing the bucket and attacking. An occasional jump shot would be welcomed, too.
Matthews has never been accused of stagnation. He’s a devilish dervish of a ballhound and he isn’t shy to take it to the hole. But he needs the opposition to respect his outside stroke to open a path to the promised land. Matthews’ jumper has betrayed him to the tune of 4-for-26 over the last six games. He knows it, too. He attempted just one shot in 15 minutes last night.
But these are mid-season quibbles. WVU is ranked 12th in the nation after a dreadful 2018-19. With the strength of the inside game, the depth of players rarely seen in Morgantown, and the defense setting a tragic tone for the opposition, the question looms:
Isn’t this exactly what WVU fans envisioned when Bob Huggins took this job?
