The West Virginia Mountaineers will begin Big 12 Conference play on January 2nd when they visit the 3rd-ranked and unbeaten Iowa State Cyclones. It is safe to say that West Virginia’s first true road game of the season will be a difficult test in a hostile environment at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames.

Before we shift gears completely to Big 12 play, let’s be honest about the current state of the 9-4 Mountaineers who have completed their non-conference slate. Here are 4 observations regarding the start to the season for West Virginia.

1. Ongoing Cycle

Simply put, West Virginia has “beaten up” on teams that are not as talented, and their 4 losses have come against unranked power conference teams. After a 5-0 start (including a win over the 7-6 Pitt Panthers), WVU dropped consecutive games to Clemson and Xavier in the Charleston Classic. The Mountaineers followed that up by winning 4 of their next 6 games, but lost to both Wake Forest and Ohio State in neutral-site games. With all due respect to the teams that the Mountaineers have beaten this season, they have yet to collect a win that would be deemed as an “impressive” one on their resume.

2. 2nd Half Defense

The achilles heel for the Mountaineers thus far may very well come on the defensive side of the ball. In all 4 of West Virginia’s losses, the defense has allowed a 40+ point 2nd half to the opposing offenses. While the 30,000-foot view would suggest that the Mountaineers rank among the best teams in the nation in defense (allowing just 60.2 points per game), the four losses more accurately tell the tale for this team.

A 45-point second half for Clemson led to the Tigers overcoming a 7-point halftime deficit to win the game. Xavier continued their shot shooting from the first half with 42 points in the 2nd half. Juke Harris and Wake Forest caught fire, scoring 41 points in the 2nd for a 9-point win after the game was tied at the half. Lastly, Ohio State erased a big 2nd half deficit by scoring 41 points to force overtime, eventually winning the game in 2 OTs.

Simply put, West Virginia has seen immense struggles defensively in 4 second halves this season, and they lost all 4 games.

3. Shot Creation

Even dating back to the Bob Huggins era, it seems that West Virginia teams have struggled to see numerous players who are capable of creating their own shots. On more than one occasion this season, it seems as if their only chance or attempt to score comes on an Honor Huff three-point attempt. Treysen Eaglesstaff is a proven scorer who has been inconsistent for WVU this season, though he is the most-likely of candidates when it comes to creating your own shot.

4. Vanilla Offense

Similar to the first point raised, West Virginia’s offense has looked significantly better against lesser competition this season. In their 9 wins, West Virginia has done a great job moving the ball around and getting everyone involved in the flow of the offense. In those 9 games, WVU has had 7 different players lead the team in scoring. In 3 of the 4 losses, Honor Huff has been the team’s leading scorer. Particularly in the team’s most recent loss to Ohio State, the offense was rather predictable in the 2nd half and overtime periods. It seemed as if just about every possession would end in an Honor Huff 3-point attempt or a Chance Moore drive to the basket.

If West Virginia desires to pick up resume-building wins in Big 12 Conference play, it needs to make significant strides on both sides of the floor.

Yet again, West Virginia beats up on a bad team in their final opportunity to do so.

No Chance Moore?

Eaglestaff playing with confidence

Immediate Reaction and Key Takeaways from the 86-51 win

Big 12 Gauntlet Incoming...

West Virginia will be back in action at the Hope Coliseum on Monday Night at 7pm when they host a struggling Mississippi Valley State team in a final tune-up before Big 12 Play begins for the Mountaineers.

The cycle continues.... West Virginia falls yet again to a power conference opponent in a neutral site game. This time ,in 2OT vs Ohio State in Cleveland.

Allowing big seconds halves continues to kill the Mountaineers

Another opportunity... Gone in a Heartbreaking loss

Honor Huff is so good but where else does it come from??

WVU Basketball: A Look Ahead to Matchup with Ohio State

Can the West Virginia Mountaineers break the cycle and pick up a win against Ohio State in Cleveland on Saturday night? West Virginia currently sits at 8-3, and the Mountaineers have yet to add anything remotely close to a signature win this season. As a matter of fact, over the last stretch of games, West Virginia has won the games that they were “supposed to” win and have lost the games in which they took a step up in terms of the quality of competition they were facing. West Virginia’s 3 losses this season have come against power conference opponents in Clemson, Xavier, and Wake Forest. The only power conference team that WVU has beaten is Pitt in a 22-point victory in the Backyard Brawl on November 13th. After falling in consecutive games (Clemson, Xavier), West Virginia won back-to-games against Mercyhurst and Coppin State in blowout fashion. They then fell to Wake Forest by 9 points last Saturday before following that up with a blowout win over Little Rock at the Hope Coliseum. Now, on Saturday evening, West Virginia will square off with the Buckeyes of Ohio State as part of the Cleveland Hoops Showdown. Let’s get familiar with this Ohio State squad ahead of the matchup with West Virginia, as the Mountaineers look to break the cycle and collect a win against a quality Big 10 opponent.

Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State (7-2) will be entering the matchup coming off a loss to Illinois in its second Big 10 Conference game. The Buckeyes' only other loss this season came on the road at Pitt in a 67-66 contest. Pitt’s Damarco Minor hit a game-winning 3-point shot as time expired to give the Panthers the victory.

The Buckeyes have picked up wins over IU Indianapolis, Purdue Fort Wayne, Appalachian State, Notre Dame, Western Michigan, Mount St. Mary’s, and Northwestern.

Tuesday night’s loss to Illinois came at home in an 88-80 contest.

Numbers to Know

Ohio State ranks 5th in the Big Ten in scoring with 87.4 points per game while making 52% of their shots, good for 2nd in the conference and 12th in the nation. Ohio State has the best 3-point defense in the Big Ten this season, holding opponents to just 28.5% shooting from beyond the arc.

Players to Know

Ohio State is led by standout guard Bruce Thornton, who is in his 4th year as a starter for the Buckeyes. The senior guard is putting up sensational numbers this season, scoring over 21 points per game, collecting 5 rebounds, and dishing out 4 assists. After shooting over 42% from downtown last season, through 9 games this season, he is making 55% (the 3rd-highest percentage in the nation) of his threes on 5 attempts per game. Thornton is having an All-American caliber start to the season. Thornton scored 34 points on an efficient 13-of-17 (6-9 3pt) shooting in the loss to Illinois.

Christoph Tilly is a 7-foot senior transfer from Santa Clara who is adjusting well to being a Buckeye. Through 9 games, Tilly is averaging nearly 14 points and 5 rebounds per game.

Sophomore guard John Mobley Jr. is picking up right where he left off in an impressive freshman campaign with the Buckeyes. Mobley is another Buckeye averaging double-figures in scoring with 13.7 points per game while shooting 35% from downtown.

6’6 junior forward Devin Royal is the 4th Buckeye in double figures this season, averaging 13.6 points per game and is knocking down nearly 40% of his 3-point shots.

West Virginia vs Ohio State

Tip-off between the Mountaineers and the Buckeyes is set for 8pm ET on ESPNU.

West Virginia beats a really bad Little Rock team, 90-58

When will the cycle end?

Honor Huff & Treysen Eaglestaff shine

Look Ahead to Ohio State matchup

After falling to Wake Forest in Charleston, West Virginia, on Saturday evening, the Mountaineers will be back in the Hope Coliseum on Tuesday night when they face the Little Rock Trojans of the Ohio Valley Conference.

Notably, West Virginia enters the matchup with Little Rock on the heels of an unwanted trend. After a 5-0 start to the season, the Mountaineers faced a step up in competition that resulted in consecutive losses for WVU. This was followed by the Mountaineers picking up blowout wins over “lesser” competition in Mercyhurst and Coppin State, before suffering the 9-point loss to Wake Forest. Now, West Virginia will see a struggling Little Rock squad before looking to break this trend when they square off with Ohio State in Cleveland on Saturday night.

Little Rock Trojans

The struggling Trojans will come into the matchup with West Virginia having just a 2-7 record. On November 12th, they suffered an 89-49 loss to Marquette. They are currently riding a 5-game losing streak with losses to Murray State, Texas State, Southern Illinois, Central Arkansas, and Arkansas State.

Numbers to Know

Little Rock ranks 10th in the 11-team OVC in points scored per game with 66.1 and they allow 78.8 points per game which has them ranked 9th in defense.

Despite the 2-7 record, Little Rock has shot it well from beyond the arc this season. They lead the OVC in 3-point percentage, shooting the ball at a 38.9% clip. They are ranked 24th nationally in that department.

The Trojans have had trouble taking care of the basketball this season, leading the OVC in turnovers per game with 16.4, which is the 7th most in the nation.

Players to Know

Senior guard Jonathan Lawson led the Trojans in scoring last season and is bolstering similar numbers this season. Lawson is averaging 14.4 points to go along with 3.8 rebounds and assists per game. He’s shooting just over 37% from 3-point territory this season on 6.6 attempts per game.

6’8 forward, Cameron Wallace, is averaging over 10 points and 4 rebounds in 20 minutes per game.

Penn State transfer Kachi Nzeh is averaging 10 points while shooting 42% from downtown on 2+ attempts per game.

2 Quick Goals for West Virginia

Offensively, West Virginia must find a way to get more players involved in the flow of the offense and be able to carry it forward when they see Ohio State this weekend. Simply put, dominating lesser competition but struggling to run offense against power conference opponents is a major concern. Hodge and company need to find effective ways to run offensive sets that result in easy baskets. Against Wake Forest, the Mountaineers’ primary had two plays, one was to let Honor Huff shoot from downtown, and the other was for Chance Moore to drive the ball to the basket.

Defensively, the tale of the tape is rather similar. With a step up in competition, WVU’s defense has struggled. In all 3 losses for the Mountaineers, the opposing team had a second half in which they scored 40+ points. Meanwhile, in 6 of their 7 wins, they have held teams to less than 60 points total for the game. While that isn’t to be expected against power conference opponents, this level of discrepancy is concerning. With only two games remaining against mid-major opponents (Little Rock, Mississippi Valley State), WVU must work to fix what has been wrong on this end of the floor.

West Virginia vs Little Rock

Tip-off between the Mountaineers and the Trojans is set for 7pm ET on ESPN+.

Jahiem White is entering the transfer portal, 48 hours ago it looked like he was happily staying in Morgantown

Is he heading to North Texas to join Neal Brown?

Money?

Issues with Coach Rich Rod?