MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — At the going rate, West Virginia’s defensive struggles in the paint will be more than even Sherman-Williams can handle.
No. 4 Texas outscored the 14th-ranked Mountaineers, 40-22, around the rim, despite Texas post players Jericho Sims and Kai Jones being held mostly in check.
The 6-foot-10 Sims fouled out and only scored two points in 17 minutes, while the 6-11 Jones added 10 points off the bench on 4 of 8 shooting.
The rest of the Longhorns’ paint touches came mainly on drives to the basket from guards, who finished with lay-ups or from Texas scoring in transition.
Texas also had an 11-5 edge in fast-break points.
“I thought we did a good job for a period of time and then we didn’t do a good job,” said WVU head coach Bob Huggins, who added WVU players may have been whistled for some fouls around the rim that could have gone the other way. “In all fairness, I’d like to have a better understanding of verticality. If you straight-line drive, it’s not always the defense that fouls.”
WVU’s struggles to keep opposing players out of the paint goes back to the beginning of the season, when 6-foot-9 forward Oscar Tshiebwe was still on the roster.
The Mountaineers gave up 60 points in the paint in a loss against Gonzaga and 44 in a win against Western Kentucky.
Against Texas, Huggins believes the play that was most costly was when Texas guard Matt Coleman III caught the ball in the paint with 1:28 left and was fouled.
WVU led at the time, 70-65, but Coleman’s two foul shots cut the lead to three.
“We should have had the chance to go up eight, but instead we let them cut it to (three),” Huggins said. “If we go up eight, I like our chances a lot better.”
Shooting woes in the second half
Texas entered the game leading the Big 12 in field-goal percentage defense, holding teams to just 38% from the field.
Yet the Mountaineers connected on 50% (14 of 28) in the first half in taking a 40-36 halftime lead.
The second half was a much different story.
WVU only made 10 of 34 shots and was just 1 of 5 over the final three minutes.
In the second half, Derek Culver, Deuce McBride and Sean McNeil combined for just 8 of 24 from the field.
“I thought there was a lot of contact in the post,” Huggins said. “Those are shots Derek normally makes and you guys have seen that. We’re not as athletic as they were. They made up for a lot of their mistakes with their athleticism. We’re just not as athletic.”
For the game, WVU shot 38.7%, which is just about what Texas allows opponents for the season.
The final seconds
The final 15 seconds of the game saw Emmitt Matthews Jr. grab two offensive rebounds, the second coming off a missed 3-pointer by McBride, but the Mountaineers still held a 70-69 lead.
Matthews was fouled with 10.6 seconds remaining, but there was also the option for Matthews to pass the ball back out to a guard or dribble the ball out of the paint to try and run more time off the clock.
“We all would have (liked to see him dribble the ball out),” Huggins said. “The reality is, if he dribbles out, they’re just going to foul him out there. It’s only going to run a few more seconds off the clock. That’s not going to end the game.”
Matthews missed both free throws and Texas won the game on the next possession, when guard Courtney Ramey drove the ball to the rim and then kicked it out to a wide open Andrew Jones, who nailed a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left for the 72-70 victory.
“We knew Ramey was going to try and drive downhill and try to create some type of contact or to try and create a play for someone else, which he did,” WVU guard Taz Sherman said. “My job was to try and stay in front (of Ramey) and try to create a tough shot. He created help and kicked it out to an open shooter.
“We talked at the beginning of the game to not let step-in threes. Andrew Jones made 4 of 7 threes today. He made a big shot when they needed one.”
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