| Story of the Tape |  |
|
|---|---|---|
| Factors Per Recreation | 72.6 | 71.8 |
| Scoring Margin | +0.8 | +7.9 |
| Subject Objective Proportion | .450 | .427 |
| OPP Subject Objective Proportion | .446 | .397 |
| 3-PT Subject Objective Proportion | .336 | .336 |
| OPP 3-PT Subject Objective Proportion | .364 | .282 |
| Free Throw Proportion | .679 | .757 |
| Rebounds Per Recreation | 33.3 | 34.5 |
| Assists Per Recreation | 13.5 | 13.5 |
| Turnovers Per Recreation | 12.1 | 10.8 |
| Steals Per Recreation | 7.2 | 8.1 |
| Blocks Per Recreation | 3.4 | 4.8 |
| Streak | L6 | L1 |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia will likely be in the same state of affairs to Tuesday evening when it misplaced 65-57 to Arizona State this Saturday when it performs at Kansas State.
The Solar Devils have been trying to snap a four-game shedding streak and did so on the expense of the 23rd-ranked Mountaineers, coming off a powerful 64-57 victory over second-ranked Iowa State three days prior.
On Saturday night in Manhattan, Kansas, West Virginia will likely be going through equally determined Kansas State, losers of six straight Huge 12 video games after tipping off convention play with a 70-67 house victory over Cincinnati again on Dec. 30.
Which means all the month of January has been losses for third-year coach Jerome Tang, whose report has gone from 26-10 his first yr, to 19-15 final yr to 7-11 thus far this season.
The Wildcats’ current skid has included a one-point highway defeat at TCU, a four-point house loss to Texas Tech and most not too long ago, an eight-point loss at Baylor the place Tang as soon as served as Scott Drew’s No. 1 assistant.
West Virginia coach Darian DeVries, not too long ago the recipient of the Jim Phelan “Mid-Season” Award, offered to varsity basketball’s high Division I head coach, believes Kansas State has been making strides with its lineup stuffed with switch portal additions.
Regardless of Tang now being in yr three at Kansas State, all 5 Wildcat starters started their school careers at different faculties.
“They have been aggressive in a number of their video games; they simply have not gotten a number of them within the win column the best way they want,” DeVries stated.
And similar to Arizona State, Kansas State will current loads of challenges with their dimension up entrance. Main scorer David N’Guessan, a 6-foot-9 former Virginia Tech switch, averages 12.6 factors and seven.4 rebounds per recreation, however DeVries stated all the pieces Ok-State does offensive runs by means of 6-foot-10 senior Coleman Hawkins, an Illinois essential.
Hawkins averages 10.7 factors, 7.0 rebounds and has handed out a team-leading 79 assists.
“There are some issues which are distinctive to them, and a number of it’s due to Coleman Hawkins,” DeVries famous. “They play so much by means of him and he is type of that point-forward for them as form of their facilitator. They are going to play him within the put up or out in house, and he’ll put you in some troublesome spots on what you wish to do together with his ball screens.”
The conundrum, as DeVries sees it, is do you double Hawkins, or do you’re taking your probabilities by enjoying him one-on-one as a result of he is such an impressive passer who has additionally made 21 threes?
It is form of a pick-your-poison proposition.
“If you’ll play him one-on-one, he is a man that may again you down or get you to a spot,” DeVries defined. “However in case you convey (further) individuals he is a really keen passer and he is very unselfish in that manner.”
Villanova switch Brendan Hausen is second on the workforce in scoring, averaging 11.9 factors per recreation.
Arizona State’s dimension was a giant subject for West Virginia in final Tuesday evening’s loss. The Solar Devils outrebounded 46 to twenty-eight, together with one stretch halfway by means of the second half when WVU’s solely two boards have been credited as workforce rebounds.
Most of WVU’s offense got here in transition off Arizona State turnovers, and when that dried up within the second half, the Mountaineers struggled offensively. West Virginia shot simply 31% general and missed 25 of its 29 three-point makes an attempt. Had the Mountaineers misfired on simply 22 of these threes, that may have been sufficient to defeat Arizona State.
Partly responsible was a flu bug that impacted a number of the gamers, together with guard Honest Harris, to not point out a troublesome stretch that noticed the workforce play 5 video games in 9 days, two of which have been in Boulder, Colorado, and Houston, Texas.
DeVries stated his guys are actually past the virus and is hopeful they will discover their legs once more when it meets Kansas State on Saturday evening. He needs his workforce getting again to enjoying the robust, aggressive protection that has led to 13 victories, together with three over high 10-ranked groups.
“It definitely allow us to down within the second half the opposite evening, and that is one thing we simply cannot let afford to have occur,” he stated. “For us, it is at all times going to be about our protection and our potential to make issues troublesome for opposing offenses.”
Guard Javon Small, the Huge 12’s main scorer averaging 19.5 factors per recreation, led the Mountaineers with 14 factors in opposition to Arizona State earlier this week, however he noticed a wave of defenders and completed the evening simply 2-of-11 from the ground, together with 0-for-8 from three.
West Virginia, 13-5 general and 4-3 in Huge 12 play, is presently tied with Baylor in sixth place within the convention standings.
Houston (7-0), Iowa State and Arizona (6-1), and Kansas and Texas Tech (5-2) are above them.
Kansas State is one spot above winless Colorado on the backside of the league standings.
The Wildcats received each conferences final yr, together with a 94-90 time beyond regulation determination in Manhattan. WVU’s 4 wins in Bramlage Coliseum have are available in 2021, 2018, 2016 advert 2015. General, the Mountaineers are simply 4-8 within the facility.
Saturday’s recreation will tip off at 6 p.m. and will likely be televised nationally on the CBS Sports activities Community (Jordan Kent and Mike O’Donnell).
Mountaineer Sports activities Community radio protection with Tony Caridi, Brad Howe and studio host David Kahn begins at 5 p.m. on stations all through West Virginia, on-line by way of WVUsports.com and the Varsity Community and WVU Gameday apps.
