MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — For the second time over a span of three games and eight days, West Virginia fifth-year shooting guard Erik Stevenson surpassed 30 points in a home victory.
Stevenson, who scored 31 points in an 80-77 triumph over Auburn on January 28, offered an encore in his next game at the WVU Coliseum by scoring a new career-high 34 Saturday to spark a much-needed 93-61 victory against Oklahoma.
How was it then that Stevenson spoke after the win over the Sooners like someone who had failed to take advantage of numerous opportunities despite making six 3-pointers and shooting 13 for 23 from the field?
“That’s what’s wrong with me,” Stevenson admitted. “I have a career high, and I’m like, ‘I could’ve had 50.’ That’s just how it goes. I like to consider myself a perfectionist. I make shots, miss shots, but I want to make them all. I’ll go back and watch the tape and I’m like, ‘I could’ve made that, too, if I had my left foot here, right foot here or was on balance here.’
“I’m just crazy. You can ask my teammates, I’m a psycho when it comes to shooting the ball and trying to master what I’m doing. I definitely have to improve on not getting too low when I’m in those slumps and not get too high when I have a night like this. That’s just another step in my personal development.”
Stevenson’s recent play has upped his scoring average to a team-best 14.9 points, nearly three full points ahead of the closest teammate.
He’s scored at least 16 points in each of the last four games, though performances in road contests against Texas Tech and TCU haven’t been on par with the memorable efforts at home against the Tigers and Sooners. Stevenson has 33 points on 9-for-29 shooting in the two away contests, and he’s totaled 65 points on 23-for-40 shooting with 13 triples in the two home tilts.
“It’s a special day. I wish he would do it more often,” WVU sophomore James Okonkwo said of Stevenson’s showing against OU. “That would be pretty cool. We know what he’s capable of. Everybody in this state knows what he’s capable of when he’s shooting like that. We just feed him the ball, have confidence in him and he’s going to pay it back tenfold.”
Stevenson started Saturday’s game by scoring 11 points with three treys before the matchup was 4 minutes old. He shined late in the first half as well to play a pivotal role in the Mountaineers outscoring the Sooners by 22 points over the final 7 minutes for a 56-30 lead at the break.
Stevenson’s 23 first-half points enabled WVU (14-9, 3-7) to build a comfortable lead, and for the first time over 10 Big 12 games, the Mountaineers coasted throughout the second half with the outcome never in doubt.
“Our guys look to him more,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said. “Before, it was like he went through his gyrations, and who wants to watch? Nobody wants to pay attention. Let’s face it, he upset the applecart a couple times as well. Probably the way he played the Auburn game, they become much more comfortable with him. I have. He’s become much more comfortable with us.”
Stevenson’s role as a shooter and scorer have hardly changed over his first and only season at West Virginia. With 266 field-goal attempts, the 6-foot-4 guard easily leads the Mountaineers in shots taken (Tre Mitchell has the next highest total at 201).
Yet after several strong efforts in non-conference play that included quality performances at Pitt and against Penn, Florida and Buffalo, Stevenson hit a rough patch when Big 12 play began.
As the Mountaineers dropped their first five games within the conference, Stevenson totaled 55 points on 20-for-58 shooting and missed 20 of 25 3-point attempts. His best outing came in a competitive loss at Oklahoma State, when Stevenson’s second-half shooting sparked a rally. He was then assessed a technical foul for taunting and the Cowboys took control of the game down the stretch.
The next time the Mountaineers hit the road for a January 14 game at Oklahoma, Stevenson attempted an ill-advised shot from behind the arc with West Virginia trailing by two and 18 seconds left. The shot was off the mark, and with the Mountaineers’ deficit then at four, Stevenson went 1-of-2 on free throws with 11 seconds left in what amounted to a 77-76 loss.
“I can crack a smile every now and again, but I still owe [Huggins] a few games, owe my teammates a couple games and owe this fan base a couple games,” Stevenson said.
The next chance comes Wednesday when the Mountaineers welcome a ranked Iowa State team fresh off a 15-point win over Kansas.
“I’m not trying to make this seem like I don’t like it,” Stevenson said. “I like it. Just trying to stay mellow and enjoy it. Tomorrow is a new day. We have Iowa state, which just throttled Kansas. I’d love to do it again, but I’d rather have a win.”
It presents another opportunity for West Virginia to strengthen its resume with a quality victory.
Stevenson, who never participated in the NCAA Tournament in previous stops at Wichita State, Washington and South Carolina, spoke Friday about the Mountaineers’ understanding of what needs done to reach their desired postseason event.
The belief is that 18 wins would be enough for a berth into the Big Dance and Huggins says that message is something the team’s veterans have a strong understanding of.
“We talked a great deal about what do you want to do,” Huggins said. “We’re going to have to win games to get a halfway decent seed in the conference tournament and to continue to advance for where our placement is going to be in the Big 12 for the postseason. They’re starting to realize that and particularly guys like Erik. The guys that this is it for him. This is it for Keedy [point guard Kedrian Johnson]. They’re starting to realize, I don’t want to have to go through what we went through a year ago in Keedy’s situation. Erik’s heard enough about it that he doesn’t want any part of that as well. That’s motivation.”