West Virginia’s recent run of offensive ineptitude reached a new low in a 70-59 loss at No. 1 Baylor.
The No. 14 Mountaineers finished with more turnovers (22) than field goals (19), providing an embarrassing exclamation point to their current three-game losing streak.
Case in point: When Oscar Tshiebwe made a bank shot midway through the second half, he snapped West Virginia’s streak of 15 minutes, 52 seconds without a second-half field goal that started in Wednesday night’s 58-49 loss to No. 3 Kansas.
With morale dipping to its lowest ebb of the season, Huggins took a much different tack with his team than he did after expressing his disappointment following their recent win over Iowa State.
“To say that we’ve fallen out of the national picture is wrong. We have not. We are very much still a big part of the national picture,” Huggins said in his postgame radio interview. “Now, we have to take of our business. If we take care of our business, we’ll still be in the Top 10 in the NET.
“The sky hasn’t fallen. It’s looked like it wanted to a couple times, but the sky hasn’t fallen. I told them, ‘Guys, it ain’t over. But certain things have got to change. We cannot have 20 turnovers and beat good people. Nor can anybody else.'”
Saturday’s second-half ineptitude started early, with the Mountaineers (18-7, 6-6 Big 12) committing turnovers on their first three possessions. West Virginia closed the first half on a modest 8-0 run to cut Baylor’s lead to 11, but gave it right back as the Bears (24-1, 12-0) opened the second with their own 8-0 run.
Only a late hot streak from reserve guard Taz Sherman kept the final margin respectable. Sherman scored a career-high 20 points, all in the second half, as West Virginia finished the game on an 11-1 run over the final 3 minutes.
“I think he’s starting to kind of find his way,” Huggins said. “We’ve got to get him more shots. We’ve got to get him on the floor more.”
Sherman was 5 of 9 from three-point range, marking a season-high for three-pointers from a Mountaineer. Even in last year’s lost season, West Virginia had four games in which a player made at least five treys.
The Mountaineers finished the game shooting 34.5 percent (19 of 55) from the field.
Until Sherman got hot, West Virginia was on pace to shoot below 32 percent for the third consecutive game. There’s no recorded instance of that happening in program history, with the previous worst stretches being three sub-32 percent performances within five-game spans in 2013 and 1937.
Sherman’s career effort was surrounded by a multitude of miserable showings.
Emmitt Matthews was completely invisible, recording no points or rebounds in 13 minutes. He did have a turnover.
Derek Culver was a non-factor at best, finishing with three points, three rebounds and four turnovers in 12 minutes. Culver’s frustration has been evident during the three-game skid, but Huggins was quick to defend him.
“Early in the game, we’ve got Derek rooting in there looking for the ball, and we stand around there and dribble it and look at him and dribble it and dribble it away from him,” Huggins said. “In the old days I’d have that little guy go down there so those big guys could beat the heck out of him and he can figure out what it’s like to have a guy on your back and not get the ball.
“We don’t pass the ball when the ball needs to be passed. And we turn it over at an alarming rate.”
West Virginia’s 22 turnovers tied the season high set in a 70-68 loss at St. John’s. In that game the Mountaineers struggled with the Red Storm’s full-court pressure. Baylor was able to achieve similar results with its half-court defense.
“We’re throwing it all over the gym [against] no pressure,” Huggins said. “That’s really alarming.”
By the numbers
Baylor has won 22 straight, tying the 1996-97 Kansas Jayhawks for the longest winning streak in Big 12 history. That Kansas team lost to eventual national champion Arizona in the Sweet 16… Baylor’s Jared Butler scored a game-high 21 points, finishing 8 of 11 from the field… For the second straight game, WVU point guards Jordan McCabe, Miles McBride and Brandon Knapper did not record an assist… The Bears were without No. 2 scorer MaCio Teague, who missed the game with a wrist injury.
Next up
West Virginia hosts Oklahoma State (13-12, 3-9) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Cowboys actually come in hotter than the Mountaineers, winning three of their last four including Saturday’s upset over Texas Tech.