FORT WORTH, Texas — This is not the type of consistency Bob Huggins wants out of West Virginia’s defense.
Stuck with the only Big 12 defense that allows more than 70 points per game heading into Tuesday’s matchup against TCU (12-3, 1-2 Big 12), at the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena, Huggins needs to look no further than how well teams are shooting against the Mountaineers (8-8, 0-4).
Since Kansas State pulled off a 21-point second-half comeback last week, the Mountaineers are giving up 54 percent shooting – from everywhere.
“At some point and time, it comes down to, ‘I’ve got to stop my man.’ ” Huggins said. “The thing about it is it’s never the same guy. If it was just one or two guys, that would be something else. Everybody is taking a turn.”
Kansas State scored 50 points in the second half against West Virginia and Oklahoma State piled on with 27 more field goals in Saturday’s 85-77 victory. In the past three halves, Kansas State and Oklahoma State combined for 54 percent shooting from the field and from 3-point range.
The Mountaineers defense will be under the microscope again against the Horned Frogs, whose two conference losses have been on the road against No. 7 Kansas and No. 23 Oklahoma. The Sooners won on a last-second runner from Kristan Doolittle.
Still, TCU is one of the finer shooting teams in the Big 12, connecting on 48.5 percent of its shots. Sophomore forward Kouat Noi came off the bench to score 30 and went 8 of 12 from 3-point range against the Sooners.
“He really shoots it,” Huggins said. “He’s got to be one of the better jump shooters in the league.”
The Mountaineers will not have to face guard Jaylen Fisher. The junior has battled knee problems all season and a report from the Fort Worth Telegram said Fisher is now likely out for the rest of the season. He was averaging 12.1 points and shooting 44 percent from 3.
“He’s really good, but they have a lot of guys who can make shots,” Huggins said. “They’ll substitute [Desmond] Bane for him. He’s a really good player, though. I think they’ve played without him now for a while.”
Senior point guard Alex Robinson is averaging 13.5 points, while shooting 40 percent from 3.
“Robinson is really good at coming off ball screens, and wherever you help from, he figures out where the ball needs to go,” Huggins said. “Robinson is the key. He gets the ball to those guys.”
Huggins said West Virginia’s biggest defensive question against Oklahoma State was finding someone to back off of to help teammates guard. The Cowboys offered up few options, which will become a theme as the Mountaineers get deeper into Big 12 play with the likes of Kansas and Oklahoma still remaining on the schedule twice.
“The easiest shots to make are step-in shots and we give too many people step-in shots,” Huggins said. “Is it because we over-help? I don’t think so. I don’t think we’re a over-help team. I think it’s because we don’t close out with the kind of intensity or purpose that we need to do. We’ve done the same thing for 40 years and it’s been pretty good. How can it be bad now? [Oklahoma State] had about seven or eight shots that were step-in shots and we were there. It’s not like we weren’t there. We just let them shoot it.”
Notes
Huggins said he would like freshman forward Derek Culver to become a little more selfish when he has the ball near the rim.
“I don’t know if the problem is getting him the ball,” Huggins said. “I think the problem is him doing something with the ball other than passing it. He’s always been a pass-first guy and he passes it pretty well. We isolated him one time and throw him the ball and he saw a guy open and threw it to him, but that guy hasn’t made a shot.”
Junior forward Sagaba Konate has not traveled to WVU’s previous two road games. Huggins said he wasn’t sure if Konate would join the Mountaineers at TCU.
“I don’t know,” Huggins said. “I kind of thought he’d make them all, but that depends on how he feels.”
