3 things we learned: Buffalo 99, West Virginia 94 (OT)

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Three takeaways from West Virginia’s 99-94 upset loss in overtime to Buffalo on Friday night:

1. You can never leave too early

Turns out those second-half collapses against Kansas, Oklahoma State and Kentucky weren’t just a last-season thing.

The Mountaineers led Buffalo 71-58 with 7:20 left in regulation when the Coliseum crowd of 12,657 began thinning. That’s also when WVU began unraveling. From that point, they shot 6-of-18 and were minus-three in turnovers.

Most noticeably, they couldn’t slow down C.J. Massinburg.

You’d have to go back 30 years to find the last time WVU lost a season opener at home. You’d have to go back 30 feet to defend Massinburg’s ridiculous shots.

He scored 35 of his 43 points after halftime, splashing 9-of-15 from 3 while the rest of the team made 2-of-22. Massinburg’s biggest shot was a deep 3 with 16 seconds left in regulation that leveled the game at 84-all.

2.  Point guard problems

So, you wondered how the post-Jevon Carter Era would look? Beetle Bolden started at point guard and produced 21 points and four assists with only one turnover.

But he did most of his damage as a catch-and-shoot scorer off the ball, and he wasn’t around for overtime after injuring his right leg. (Bolden was beat up all over, sporting fresh stitches over one eye and heavy tape on his left hand as he recovers from tearing thumb ligaments.)

The other point guards didn’t sparkle.

Jermaine Haley, who Bob Huggins described as being “too soft with the ball,” was scoreless in 4 minutes. Jordan McCabe was scoreless over 9 minutes and committed one turnover. Neither delivered an assist.

Brandon Knapper played 17 minutes and scored six points. He also committed four turnovers against two assists.

Overall, West Virginia finished minus-eight in turnovers.

“They did to us exactly what we’ve done to other teams,” Huggins said.

3. Sagaba Konate has range

The junior center, who didn’t attempt a 3-pointer in his first two college seasons, made 3-of-4 on his way to a 15-point night for the Mountaineers.

The nation’s top returning shot-blocker, he swatted three shots and grabbed seven rebounds while playing 28 minutes, though he ran gingerly at times on a sore knee.

With Konate stepping out, he got fewer low-post touches. Buffalo outscored West Virginia 36-30 in the paint.

Huggins had no problem with Konate making buckets. After all, these were only a couple steps removed from the jumpers he occasionally fashioned last season. The main complaint was Konate being only so-so on the glass. In a tight situation against a smaller team, WVU needed him to grab double-digit rebounds. (The 6-foot-3 Massinburg tracked down 14.)

And on the first possession of overtime, when WVU called a backdoor play for Konate, he wasn’t looking for Esa Ahmad’s lob that drifted out of bounds.





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