Joe Sadlek/All-Pro Photography
The way West Virginia owned Oklahoma for most of Saturday’s Big 12 opener was encouraging, though any and all the good vibes were squashed by the way the Sooners dominated the final six minutes.
“People say you can have good losses, but I’ve never had one,” WVU coach Bob Huggins said Monday, still smarting from a 67-57 loss in which the Sooners scored 16 of the final 18 points.
While there’s no shame in losing to Oklahoma, which sports a No. 19 RPI, it’s hard to overlook WVU crumbling at home against a Sooners team that was only 4-20 in road games the past two-plus seasons (and only 2-15 in Big 12).
OU coach Lon Kruger unwittingly rubbed it in during Monday’s Big 12 coaches teleconference. “(Winning on the road) felt go
od for our guys — they haven’t felt that during their careers very often.” he said. “It’s hard to know how it feels until you do it a time or two.”
Now, West Virginia (7-6, 0-1) hits the road for a game against Texas (8-6, 0-1) on Wednesday night knowing the margin-of-error is shrinking for the team’s postseason chances of landing an NCAA bid. As of Monday, saddled with a 105 RPI, the Mountaineers aren’t even in the discussion for the field of 68, and they’ll need to finish at .500 to even warrant consideration for an NIT consolation prize.
“We’ve really put ourselves behind the 8-ball,” Huggins said. “It’s pretty simple — we’ve got to win some games.”
West Virginia’s shooting percentage (.397) ranks last in the Big 12, and after scrutinizing the Oklahoma game film, Huggins was mystified at how many point-blank shots his team flubbed.
“We missed 11 shots inside of 3 feet,” he said. “I love Oklahoma’s bigs, but they’re not shot-blockers. They’re not like people who we’re going to play against the next few games that are among the leaders in blocked shots and changing shots.
“There’s just not a lot of reasons why we missed the easy ones we missed. When you don’t make shots you’ve got to find other ways to score. We’ve got to do a better job of keeping balls alive and finishing around the goal.”
The emphasis on WVU’s shooting woes has obscured an even more disturbing trend: An inability to defend. West Virginia sits ninth in the league in field-goal percentage defense. Whereas previous Huggins teams have countered a similar offensive malaise by clamping down defensively, this squad isn’t finding a way to win games at either end.
“It would be nice if we made a shot once in a while … but in all honesty, we haven’t guarded as well as we normally guard,” Huggins said.
“People are shooting 43 percent against us. That hasn’t happened. We got outscored 30-10 in the paint. That hasn’t happened. There were five consecutive possessions Oklahoma got second-chance shots.”
Gold and Blue Now Friday, May 17 
Gold and Blue Now Thursday, May 16 
Gold and Blue Now Wednesday, May 15 
Oliver Luck Q&A at WVU faculty senate meeting 
Randy Mazey on losing series to TCU 
Randy Mazey on WVU's 7-4 Game 2 loss to TCU 
23
Comments
jethro
LETS GO MOUNTANEERS!
January 7, 2013 at 3:36 pm | Report comment
Big Tom
when will huggie realize that screaming and acting like an idiot on the sidelines has no positive affect on the players and actually causes neg. reactions from fans ,players, and future recruits...
January 7, 2013 at 4:19 pm | Report comment
Hingecut
I agree big tom, his act is getting old.
January 7, 2013 at 4:41 pm | Report comment
Matt
Apparently you both are hall of fame coaches hinge and Tom. The Mountaineers are young and immature and are going to have a long season, but to question Huggs is ludicrous folks, have a little patience, gimme a break
January 7, 2013 at 7:02 pm | Report comment
Big Tom
just scream and bad mouth all the players in from of a tv audience and arena fans,, that';ll make em play harder and score more pts.
January 7, 2013 at 10:08 pm | Report comment
WVWho
Lord knows kids won't make more mistakes if you are screaming at them and benching them after one mistake is outstanding coaching. Dude is way past his prime.
January 8, 2013 at 3:07 pm | Report comment
Nate
I agree Matt. Huggs has a method and it works. Rarely do we have players leave because of the coach. When they do its because they can't or won't submit to his coaching style. It is demanding and tough. Now, this years team is quite athletic, young and NOT playing as a team. At least we are not overrated, say like Ohio St, who got blown out by over 20 points on Saturday.
January 7, 2013 at 7:09 pm | Report comment
Tim C
Give Huggs a break. He is a hall of fame coach and we are lucky to have him. Or maybe the 27 mediocre years "the Cat" was here suit you better. We are having a rough time but it will get better. Some of our recruits haven't panned out like we thought they would but Huggs will fix it.
January 7, 2013 at 7:21 pm | Report comment
Don
I see the old days coming back to wvu. We will have to rebuild like we did before. The Gale Cat days are back. No coaching just yelling. How can you teach when you yell
January 7, 2013 at 7:36 pm | Report comment
John
Folks gotta vent a little bit and their disdain is justified. However, we all must know that our Hall of Fame coach will rectify the situation; though it may not be this year. Huggs is a tough coach but I'd be more outraged if he was melded with his folding chair during games and lacked passion. Players may not all respond the same to tough coaching but it is incumbent upon them to do what he says to avoid his wrath. No player ever got hollered at for doing exactly what the coach instructed. I'd say he is rather weary from repeating himself. The man expects a lot but he has compassion for his players (see 2010 Final Four game when Da'Sean Butler went down).
January 7, 2013 at 8:29 pm | Report comment
john
Hall of fame coach has done a VERY BAD job at recruiting at WVU. He may be a HOF Coach but at WVU he hasn't done well with the kids he has recruited. He should thank John Belien who left him the kids who got him to the Final Four. Since Belien's kids have left Huggs has been a very average coach who likes to blame the kids HE RECRUITED for the teams problems. Huggs, you want better results? Recruit better players.
January 7, 2013 at 9:45 pm | Report comment
Not surprised Dan
Ditto. No more Belien players to be difference makers. It is all on Huggs shoulders now. He recruited the kids he says have no heart and don't play hard. To see the problem, look in the mirror.
January 7, 2013 at 11:01 pm | Report comment
Big Tom
last yr wasn't a particularly good year, and this year, is a bad year, and next year probably the same, but so what, do we expect to be good every year??? once every four years is good enough, do we really think we are a big time program LOL
January 7, 2013 at 10:11 pm | Report comment
Don Quixote
Three mil per year to be good every 4 years? Great gig if you can get it but there is no such job.
January 7, 2013 at 10:40 pm | Report comment
mark
Like Huggs but hate the extremely negative sideline antics. If I were a potential recruit it would cause me to look elsewhere.
January 7, 2013 at 10:48 pm | Report comment
Big Tom
agree,,, times have changed, kids don't have to go to supposed big time programs, games are televised almost everywhere all the time... go to butler, watch that coach, under control all the time,, i don't think the screaming deal and embarrassing the players works like it did in the 80's and 90's... huggie needs to change, he's not showing me why he's a hall of fame coach like he claims.
January 8, 2013 at 12:34 am | Report comment
jordan
Give me a break people. Go win 700 plus games then go tell him how to coach. Be a true mountaineer. If u wanna put down someone look at the football program where Mr dana just got rid of the last true mountaineer. No true mountaineer left on that staff. An trust me gonna get worse. Great offensive mind don't get me wrong. But not head coach material nor mountaineer material. No offense but facts is facts. Let's hope Mr luck soon sees that. But give huggs a break. He is truly proud to be a mountaineer. He will fix it like he said. Go mounties.
January 7, 2013 at 11:23 pm | Report comment
WVWho
Like he said he would fix shooting two years ago, last year, and this year? If they don't make the NIT this year and do not make the big tourney next year time to kick him to the curb!
January 8, 2013 at 3:12 pm | Report comment
jethro
LETS GO MOUNTAINEERS!
January 8, 2013 at 8:57 am | Report comment
Shawn
He's got some big time players coming in next year that will contribute right away. This years team was never supposed to be a lights out team. When did you people come to that conclusion? Huggins is a great coach who has graduated over 90 percent of his players since he came to WVU. Huggins has been yelling for years and he's produced some big time players. If you dont like the yelling and the way he coaches then dont watch the games. Heck, give me your tickets and i'll go. Get over and understand that last year wasnt the building year, this year is!
January 8, 2013 at 12:05 pm | Report comment