BLACKSBURG, Va. — After a come-from-ahead 87-82 loss at Virginia Tech, WVU coach Bob Huggins lamented his team’s inaccuracy at the foul line and the fact “we missed about 106 layups.”
But there also were big-picture implications that could impact West Virginia’s resume come tournament time. With Gonzaga, Missouri, Purdue and potentially Wisconsin upcoming on the nonconference slate, Tuesday’s loss at Cassell Coliseum could loom costly.
“I think we’ve put ourselves in a big hole,” Huggins said. “Have you looked at our schedule? It’s pretty hard. We’re going to have to win some games people don’t think we can win.”
Though Huggins’ team committed 17 second-half fouls resulting in 27 Virginia Tech free throws, he was more disenchanted by the first-half lapse in which WVU’s lead shrank from 40-24 to 41-36 in the final three minutes.
“We screwed the game up in the first half,” he said. “We got up 16 and we stopped guarding, and when you stop guarding, people take advantage of you.”
Click the video to see Huggins’ entire postgame newsconference.