MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Held to single-digits scoring for only the second time this season, Eron Harris has inarguably stumbled into that most dreaded of territories: The shooting slump.
The West Virginia guard missed all seven of his 3-point attempts during Monday night’s 80-69 loss to Texas, extending his three-game drought to 4-of-23. Despite the Longhorns purporting to field the Big 12’s weakest perimeter defense, Harris contributed a season-low six points, 12 below his average, in 26 minutes.
“I missed shot after shot after shot after shot after shot—it never got going for me,” Harris said. “Two years ago I probably would’ve started crying and told my coach to take me out of the game. But I tried to stay level emotionally and keep shooting my shot, because I know I can hit shots.
“But tonight it wasn’t going for me, and I’m mad about that.”
In search of a turnaround, Harris—who’s still shooting 40 percent from 3 this year—said he planned to devote extra time to out-of-practice shooting drills before West Virginia visits Kansas State on Saturday. Yet Bob Huggins suggested the issue with Harris could be mechanical, bringing to mind the adage that practice doesn’t make perfect, but rather, perfect practice makes perfect.
“When you watch professionals, they work incredibly hard at doing the same thing every time—incredibly hard—so their shot doesn’t change,” Huggins said. “Their neuromuscular pattern doesn’t change. That’s why they’re so consistent, because it never changes.”