UNCASVILLE, Conn. — West Virginia’s run in the Mohegan Sun flamed out quickly over the final 11 minutes of Rhode Island’s 83-70 victory in the Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase on Sunday.
It was a loss surrounded by tons of sidebars and points of interest — like the 56 combined fouls between the two teams that made the game a long and physical affair — but the Mountaineers (6-4) found themselves in a 59-59 game with 11 minutes remaining and simply did not make the plays they needed to make.
West Virginia did the exact opposite, head coach Bob Huggins said.
“I’ve told you before that we don’t pass it very well, but we could at least try,” he said. “It’s the same thing over and over again. That’s the frustrating thing. Instead of catching the ball and squaring up, we catch the ball, dribble it and lose it. It happens time and time again. You should learn, you’d think.”
At this point, it seems like the Mountaineers are being difficult students.
The four losses over the first 10 games matches the worst start since the 2013-14 season, which ended with a first round loss to Georgetown in the NIT.
Any hopes of a postseason tournament this season for the Mountaineers took an uppercut to the jaw after the Rams (5-3) broke the game wide open over the final minutes with run-out slam dunks that came from steals and a poor shot selection from West Virginia.
“It was a great win for our program and a great win for our [Atlantic 10] conference,” Rhode Island coach David Cox said. “It just shows that we continue to grow and continue to develop. We’re following the process.”
The final 11 minutes were a horror show for the Mountaineers, beginning with Lamont West getting beat on a backdoor cut by Tyrese Martin that handed Rhode Island the lead for good, 61-59, with 10:27 left.
Other bad plays included poor shoots from Esa Ahmad and Beetle Bolden that led to fastbreak plays the other way and turnovers by Bolden and Jermaine Haley that led to two more Rams’ baskets.
There were other moments, too, like Logan Routt missing two free throws that could have cut the lead to six points with 3:34 remaining and Bolden picking up his fourth foul on an offensive foul that resulted in one of the Mountaineers’ 15 turnovers right after Rhode Island took the lead for good.
Maybe more than any of that, Huggins saw missed the missed opportunities from his players from not recognizing the type of game junior forward Wes Harris was having.
Amid all the chaos and bad choices, Harris scored a career-high 18 points on 5 of 6 shooting.
“If I was 0 for 8 or 1 for 6 shooting and [Harris] has scored every time he touches it, I would throw him the ball,” Huggins said. “I don’t know. I can’t explain it. We had the mismatch and he’s scoring every time he’s touching it and we won’t throw him the ball.”
Harris also added nine rebounds, which came in handy since WVU forward Sagaba Konate sat out the game with a right knee injury, which was yet another piece of the storyline for the Mountaineers.
Without a strong inside presence, West Virginia shot 32 percent (18 of 56) from the floor and Rhode Island, which entered the game shooting less than 40 percent as a team, hit on 47 percent (29 of 62).
Rhode Island forward Cyril Langevine scored eight of his 15 points over the final 11 minutes. He scored four on dunks, hit a deep two from the corner and then added a tough basket in the paint that gave the Rams a 73-65 lead with 4:03 left.
“He’s a man. He’s a grown man,” Cox said. “I didn’t want to have to sit that long in the second half, but I felt that game wasn’t out of hand. It stayed a one- or two-point game. He picked up his third foul early in the second half. He got back in and gave us a tremendous amount of energy.”
Rhode Island guards Fatts Russell and Jeff Dowtin both scored 18 to lead the Rams.
Meanwhile for the Mountaineers, Bolden was held to just one point, which didn’t come until a free throw with 53 seconds remaining. He was 0 for 8 from the field. Fellow guard Chase Harler went 1 of 6 from the field and Ahmad — the team’s leading scorer, was held to just two points in the second half after scoring 10 in the first half.
“We made a couple of mistakes we’ve been making all year,” Harris said. “I feel like if we do what we’re taught; move the ball, get to the rim, we’ll get much better.”
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