MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — As No. 22 West Virginia prepared for Tuesday’s matchup with Texas Tech, first-year head coach Mark Kellogg had a message for the Mountaineers before they would secure a seventh straight win, 82-59.
“I told them before the game, ‘We only have four games at home left this year. Take advantage of that, relish it, and enjoy it for the next two hours,’” Kellogg said. “Go get lost in the game was my message. Go have fun and this is what we all enjoy doing. We’re going to compete, play hard and get lost in the game — and we certainly did that.”
In winning its 15th game this season by at least 15 points, West Virginia improved to 20-2 and moved into a two-way tie with Kansas State for second in the Big 12 Conference. The Mountaineers matched the best 22-game start to a season in program history and are in the thick of the race for a Big 12 regular season championship.
How long that stays the case likely depends on Saturday’s outcome when WVU plays at No. 18 Baylor.
“I don’t think you ever think you’re going to win seven in a row in the Big 12 necessarily, but we thought we needed to make some noise now to kind of give us a chance to be in the hunt late,” Kellogg said of the ongoing win streak. “We put ourselves in that position.
“It can change in a hurry, too. I’m not naive to that. I know how quickly it can change. You let them enjoy it and celebrate it a little bit and then get to the next one. You don’t want one loss to turn into multiple losses, which it can. It’s been seven in a row and we’re playing with confidence. We’ll go into Baylor with something to prove.”
Perhaps what was most rewarding to Kellogg about his team’s performance Tuesday was that it came some 60-plus hours after the Mountaineers returned home from a 78-69 win at BYU and the subsequent tough travel to Provo, Utah.
Kellogg noted he got home at 5:36 Sunday morning and the quick turnaround from the team’s longest trip this season added another challenging element to the matchup with the Red Raiders.
Despite a turnover on its opening possession, West Virginia led 9-2 just over 3 minutes into the matchup and by six after one quarter. WVU doubled the advantage to 12 at halftime, before putting to rest any thought of a Red Raiders’ rally by dominating the third period, 30-10.
Through three quarters, the Mountaineers had made 28-of-44 field-goal attempts, held Tech to 15-of-45 shooting, forced 19 turnovers and scored all 21 fast break points in the game.
“We had all sorts of travel issues getting back and the time we got back, so I got kind of worried about this one and how we’d come out of the gates,” Kellogg said. “We prepared a little bit differently because of the late arrival. We didn’t get to do much two days ago at all. It was much more of just film and some walkthrough and let them go home and sleep and let the coaches sleep.”
Next comes the start of a two-game Texas road swing in which West Virginia will be away from Friday through Tuesday as it plays the nationally-ranked Bears and then TCU.
A home matchup with league-leading Oklahoma follows, before a trip to Kansas State. The regular season slate is rounded out by home dates against Baylor and TCU with a trip to Oklahoma State in between.
“It’s just about us right now. We’re in control of our own destiny,” said guard JJ Quinerly, who led all players with 21 points against the Red Raiders for her 21st game in double-figure scoring this season. “These next couple games are going to be hard, but we can pull it out.”
Quinerly, one of four returning starters off last season’s team, has meshed exceptionally well with fellow guards Jordan Harrison and Lauren Fields, a pair of additions to the program after Kellogg’s arrival.
Quinerly’s 19.5 points per game and 73 steals are tops on the team, while Harrison follows with 13.5 points, a team-best 122 assists and 62 steals. Fields is the third-double figure scorer at 11.2 and has a team-best 54 three-pointers to go with 50 steals.
“We’ve had some breaks go our way, but kids bought in and fit the style that we like,” Kellogg said. “That’s the beauty of it. I’m just kind of almost going along with it a little bit. I haven’t been to some of these places. I haven’t played here and I don’t know how we travel. I don’t know any of that stuff and I don’t care. [Director of Basketball Operations Kayla Scott] does all of our operations stuff and she tells me when I’m supposed to be places. There’s been a beauty to that. I haven’t had that in a long time in my career.
“This team has taught me a lot. There were times early on I wanted more from them, because we’re such flat-liners and kind of even-keeled. I’d fight them in practice a little bit and think we’d practiced terrible and then we’d play really well. Without them saying coach relax, they’re basically saying, coach relax. We’ve got you. It’s been fun and I keep saying there’s beauty to it. It’s been refreshing, because it’s not always the case as a basketball coach.”