COLLEGE PARK, Md. — In a preseason contest played in as close to regular season conditions as possible, West Virginia dropped their exhibition opener Sunday afternoon at Maryland, 90-81 in overtime.
In the first year of an expanded college basketball preseason where up to three scrimmages can be open to the public, the Mountaineers had an opportunity to play a road game at a power conference opponent under normal game conditions.
“I’m from about 15 minutes up the road. For me, it was just a blessing to be able to play in an area I haven’t played in a long time,” said WVU junior guard and Bowie, Maryland native Martin Somerville. “With my new teammates, our first time out there with each other. We’ve got so much talent and a lot of connectivity within the group. It was just good getting out there in front of everybody knowing that the season is around the corner.”
“I am super-excited to get to do this early in October and super-excited for the season ahead,” said WVU senior guard Finley Bizjack.
“If you have silly fouls in practice, maybe you put them on an air bike or make them run,” said WVU head coach Ross Hodge. “But they still get to be in practice. You have silly fouls in real games, you have to sit down. And you don’t get to play anymore. Those tend to be the most valuable lessons.”
In the debut performance of highly-touted freshman point guard Miles Sadler, he scored 16 points and dished out four assists in nearly 27 minutes on the court. Sadler fouled out late in overtime. Somerville and Bizjack took turns at the point in the 18-plus minutes where Sadler was on the bench.
“I’ve played point guard my whole college career. It wasn’t any different than here,” Somerville said. “We have a lot of guys that can handle the ball. Anywhere you go, you are going to have multiple ball handlers. It was fine. We’ve just got to make better reads in the second half.”
“We have [graduate assistants] and people in practice that push us to be our best,” Bizjack said. “That’s no excuse for the amount of turnovers we had (14) and I know that I was a part of (4). I know I need to be better and keep working.”
West Virginia’s 19-point first half lead and 15-point halftime advantages evaporated in the second half. Maryland led 75-70 in the final minute of regulation before Bizjack hit a corner triple with 59 seconds left and Brenen Lorient tied the game with a dunk with a dozen seconds left, sending the game to overtime.
“There wasn’t a look of despair,” Hodge said. “We got it into overtime but just didn’t play well in that last five-minute stretch. I thought that part was good. There was a lot of learning.”
West Virginia’s bench scored 32 of WVU’s 81 points. Somerville and Seydou Traore each scored 13 points.
“We feel good about our depth. We feel good about having lots of players that can contribute on different night. As a coach with pretty much a brand new group, I am still learning as well,” Hodge said. “What are the best lineup combinations and play well together? It was expected in some ways, to be honest, because I think a strength of this team will be our depth.”
The Mountaineers will face a pair of Division II opponents, Glenville State (Oct. 23) and Wheeling (Oct. 28) to conclude the preseason.