MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Soft defense and puny rebounding aren’t trademarks of Bob Huggins’ teams, so you can imagine how that combination soured him after West Virginia’s 82-75 loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday.
“When we’re good, we work our butts off. We didn’t,” he said.
Though Oklahoma State is a fast-climbing team with the nation’s second-most efficient offense according to the KenPom ratings, its 62.5-percent shooting was hard to swallow. That’s only the third time in five seasons West Virginia has allowed an opponent to eclipse 60 percent.
Jeffrey Carroll put on a shooting exhibition with 15 points in the first 4:02, taking advantage of too-slow closeouts.
Electric point guard Jawun Evans scored 14 of his 18 points after halftime, making all four of his shots and 6-of-7 from the foul line.
Phil Forte, perhaps the most dangerous jump shooter in the Big 12, was left alone for a go-ahead 3 point with under 5 minutes left. All 13 of his points surfaced in the second half, and for the game, OSU’s three offensive standouts outscored WVU’s starting lineup 51-28.
Mountaineers forward Esa Ahmad essentially was a no-show, missing three jumpshots and grabbing zero rebounds in 14 minutes. Shut out for the first time all season, the sophomore forward offered a reminder of how uninvolved he can be on occasion. That was forgivable last year when Jaysean Paige and Devin Williams were the go-to scorers, but West Virginia needs Ahmad to channel his aggressive side more consistently.
With Ahmad in a funk, freshman reserve Lamont West buried six 3s on his way to a career-high 21 points. His straight-shooting continued while talking with the postgame media.
“After we beat (OSU) in Stillwater we felt like we could easily beat them again,” West said. “I guess we overlooked them and underestimated them.”
Too bad the frail West isn’t yet a reliable defender or a rebounder. The Mountaineers were schooled on the glass 30-16, the second-fewest rebounds in school history.
The fallout from it all? West Virginia remains two games behind league leader Kansas with eight games to play in the regular season. Its RPI dipped to 35. Its NCAA tournament projection, according to Jerry Palm, now rests at a No. 5 seed.
Saturday marked WVU’s second home loss against a double-digit underdog this season. A chance to make amends for the other comes Wednesday night with a visit to last-place Oklahoma.