MORGANTOWN — The target date of March 13 for the West Virginia men’s basketball team came clearly into focus following Monday’s 85-73 loss against Baylor.
That is the date of the opening round of the Big 12 tournament and what could serve as the end of the season for the Mountaineers (9-10, 1-6 Big 12) for just the second time since joining the conference in 2012.
WVU will head into Saturday’s Big 12/SEC challenge road game against top-ranked Tennessee trailing both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State by 1 1/2 games for eighth place in the conference standings.
It’s not the ending West Virginia coach Bob Huggins envisioned way back in October, when he surveyed his roster with much optimism.
“I don’t think talent is the problem,” he said then. “I think knowledge is the problem. It’s hard when you can’t get all five guys on the same page, because someone is always going to get in the way.”
Three months later, finding a way to get everyone on the same page is still at the root of the Mountaineers’ problems.
“Some games, we’re up. Some games, we’re down,” West Virginia forward Esa Ahmad said. “I don’t know if we come out with the same amount of energy that we need every game.”
Whatever the reason, the Mountaineers have suffered from a lack of consistency since the first day of the season.
It began with injuries to point guard Beetle Bolden and forward Sagaba Konate that kept them out of preseason practices.
It continued with the suspension of freshman forward Derek Culver and Konate’s lingering knee issues and then that carried over into Ahmad getting benched twice, Wes Harris once and Trey Doomes suddenly became eligible when Huggins lifted his redshirt earlier this month.
“You’ve got to give [Baylor coach Scott Drew] a lot of credit. He lost some bigs and he found another way,” Huggins said. “I wish he would come in here and help me, because I’m having a hard time.”
Huggins’ adjustments have been developing Culver once he was reinstated and finding playing time for Doomes. West Virginia has defended with and without its full-court pressure and Bolden was moved to shooting guard to make room for Jermaine Haley at point guard.
“I did change [against Baylor],” Huggins said. “I brought Wes off the bench and I brought Emmitt Matthews off the bench, because the forwards were the ones getting the shots. I’m kind of out of options.”
Huggins said earlier this season he would not begin to plan ahead for next season when it comes to game-planning for the rest of this season’s schedule. He’s also not worried about current players tuning him out.
“I would say this, ‘If they tune me out, I’m going to tune them out.’ So, no, I don’t think that,” Huggins said. “I don’t think that, and I think they know if they tune me out, I’m going to tune them out, and they’re not going to be around. That’s why it’s called ‘team.’ That’s the whole deal. It’s team, it’s not me. It’s team.”
Added Bolden: “I trust my teammates to get ready,” he said. “Honestly, I’m focused on myself when it comes to that part of the game to make sure I’m ready. I trust my teammates as much as I trust myself. I think they do a good job of getting ready for games.”
