Column: Mountaineers shrink from big-boy test at Texas

Texas freshman Myles Turner finished with 16 points and seven rebounds in a 77-50 win over West Virginia.

 

COMMENTARY

Foul dilemmas. Frigid shooting. Sloppy passing. Sluggish defense.

No. 16 West Virginia had it all Saturday night, and essentially had no shot against No. 20 Texas.

A string of nine straight road wins ended for the Mountaineers. A string of hollow efforts against Texas continued.

“They imposed their will on us,” coach Bob Huggins said after the 77-50 blowout, which marked the most points allowed and the fewest scored by West Virginia this season. That’s a no-chance combination.

Texas forward Jonathan Holmes battles WVU’s Jonathan Holton for a rebound. Holmes finished with 16 points and 11 boards.

While the press occasionally rattled Texas—and guard Javan Felix, in particular—the Mountaineers converted only eight points off 19 turnovers. Texas (13-4, 2-2), despite sticking with a sagging 2-3 zone, benefited from 17 WVU miscues that led to 21 points.

“We turned it over 17 times against a 2-3 zone? And some of those were, gosh …” said Huggins, unable to complete his sentence.

Careless passing met with frustration as the fouls piled up, and the heretofore gritty Mountaineers (15-3, 3-2) lacked their typical backbone. Even their “cumulative effect” defense, so prideful of wearing down opponents late in games, gave way to a 17-4 Texas run over the final 11 minutes.

“How many times did they dunk it when a guy at the foul line didn’t make a rotation back?” Huggins said.

Texas forward Jonathan Holmes, who chalked this one up to UT being tougher, got chirpy with WVU players on two occasions that required referee intervention. Holmes’ game did the most talking, however: He finished with 11 rebounds and 16 points, a nice bounce-back from his previous game’s shutout.

“They tried to come in here and punk us and we didn’t let that happen,” Holmes said.

“They tried to come in here and punk us and we didn’t let that happen.” — Texas forward Jonathan Holmes

Big Cameron Ridley busted out of his slump also. Held to one shot attempt at Oklahoma State, he made 8-of-10 on Saturday and scored a season-high 19 points, contributing three of UT’s eight dunks. The 6-9 center, whose arms appear to elongate by the minute, also blocked four shots.

One-and-done phenom Myles Turner sank all nine of his free throws during a 16-point, seven-board effort. His 3 with 3:09 left in half stretched the lead to 33-21 and West Virginia never drew within single digits again.

“It was a big-boys’ game,” Huggins said. “We were out-manned.”

Despite a fifth straight loss to Texas, and the fourth within 12 months, Huggins downplayed the tough-matchup storyline. “Matchups go both ways,” he said, insisting all that Texas size would be less intimidating if coerced into a 94-foot game.

Huggins’ game plan would no doubt benefit from his best two forwards actually staying on the court. Instead, Devin Williams and Jonathan Holton fouled out, each drawing a technical to expedite their DQs.

“We’re not going to beat Texas with Jonathan Holton playing 8 minutes and Devin Williams playing 20,” Huggins said.

While WVU’s fouls are hardly a new development, the sudden diminishment of Juwan Staten is. The Big 12’s most hyped point guard managed only one field goal for the second consecutive game and finished without an assist for the first time in 66 games.

Then again, assists are hard to collect when all the recipients are missing shots, which the Mountaineers did to the tune of a season-worst 24 percent. That set a new low for any Texas opponent in a Big 12 regular-season game. (More statistical carnage: ESPN’s research showed it was West Virginia’s most inefficient offensive game in four seasons.)

“It was a big-boys’ game. We were out-manned.” — West Virginia coach Bob Huggins

Gary Browne paced West Virginia with 14 points and three steals and handed out two of the team’s—get this—five total assists. Rather accurately, he labeled the outcome “embarrassing” and blamed the Mountaineers for being outworked.

Having waited 18 games to produce its first stinker of the season, West Virginia saw first-hand what befalls a team that leaks poise and loses its edge. Texas experienced the same embarrassment during a 21-point loss to Oklahoma on the very same court.

Saturday just reinforced the unforgiving nature of this league. Past returns offer no guarantee of future results. The only guarantee is that more big-boy games await.

Jevon Carter, Brandon Watkins, Devin Williams and Juwan Staten show their disappointment during the second half of a 77-50 loss at Texas.




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