MORGANTOWN — Time has not been an ally to the West Virginia men’s basketball team this season.
It has dragged on in defeat, much like it did in the second half of Monday’s 81-50 loss against No. 18 Texas Tech.
“That was the longest 20 minutes of my life,” West Virginia guard Jordan McCabe said, referring to a second half that saw the Mountaineers shoot 6 of 22 from the field while being outscored by the Red Raiders 45-29.
“It seemed like the game was everlasting,” added West Virginia forward Derek Culver. “I looked up once [to the scoreboard] at the six-minute mark and then I looked up again and there was still 5:44 left. I was wondering about no time coming off, because I felt like I had just ran a marathon. I don’t know, maybe I just need to get in better shape.”
Time hasn’t helped the development of all of the Mountaineers’ freshmen, who are still struggling with inconsistent play in the fourth month of the season.
“You saw [Brandon Knapper] on Saturday [against Oklahoma], just like I did,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “You can’t help but think there is a lot of potential there, but you can’t be a one-game wonder.”
Knapper is but the latest example. He scored 25 points and was the hero in the Mountaineers’ 79-71 victory against Oklahoma.
Two days later, he had difficulties handling the ball and shot 1 of 6 from the field and finished with five points.
More importantly, time has not helped the Mountaineers (10-13, 2-8 Big 12) heal old wounds. In fact, it’s only created more.
There is no timetable for the return of either guard Beetle Bolden or forward Sagaba Konate.
Bolden was in a walking cast for his injured ankle and Konate’s right knee was still wrapped up in its stabilizing brace.
Without both players, the Mountaineers’ chances at winning an offensive game is minimal at best.
“Say what you want to say, but Beetle and Sags are on the bench in braces,” McCabe said. “That’s 80 percent of our offense right there.”
And time has not helped this bunch of Mountaineers forget, either.
Frustrations boiled over against the Red Raiders quicker than at any other time this season.
No, this wasn’t the first time WVU had been blown out, but players wasted little time in showing how irritated losing could be in their body language.
West Virginia forward Logan Routt was ejected from the game he never played in, after he was charged with a Flagrant 2 foul for tripping Texas Tech guard Matt Mooney.
There was no word from the Big 12 on Tuesday if any further action would be taken, nor was there any sort of statement of apology released by Routt or West Virginia in the wake of the action.
Routt wasn’t alone. Knapper received a technical foul for arguing a call with a referee and Lamont West received a Flagrant 1 foul for shoving a Texas Tech player during play.
And time will eventually judge this West Virginia team, either as the beginning of a downfall or as a simple road block in what otherwise has been a prolonged period of success for the program.
Where the program goes from here, only time will tell.
“It’s not one player’s fault,” McCabe said. “You could look at the stat lines and say, ‘Well, he didn’t have a good game.’ That doesn’t matter. One guy isn’t going to play great every single game and it’s like that for every single team. We have to do our best to pick up where other things are being left out in certain games. We’re young and inexperienced. We’re going to continue to get better. It’s hard to see right now, but we will.”
