MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Sean McNeil sort of leaned back slightly in his chair and let out a deep breath.
An emotional and wild week had just ended, one that saw the 11th-ranked West Virginia men’s basketball team play two high-scoring affairs that went down to the final seconds.
The Mountaineers knocked off No. 10 Texas Tech in a game where Deuce McBride won it with a late drive to the basket, before WVU fell to Florida, 85-80, on Saturday.
“Florida is a good team. I wished we could have pulled it out,” McNeil said. “It’s going to help us in March, come tournament time. Obviously beating Texas Tech, that was a good win. Tonight, yeah, we could’ve-should’ve won. I think our bodies are beat up. We haven’t had an off day in the last couple of days, so hopefully guys can rejuvenate here.”
WVU will travel to Iowa State on Tuesday armed with several questions on how to fix a defense that gave up a combined 172 points in those two games.
And while the Mountaineers (11-5, 4-3 Big 12) have struggled at Hilton Coliseum — 3-5 there all-time — the game represents a calm before the storm.
What follows is brutality in the Mountaineers’ schedule.
After a trip to Ames, Iowa, WVU will play six consecutive nationally ranked teams — three at home, three on the road — including back-to-back games against No. 2 Baylor.
A home game against Kansas follows Iowa State and the Jayhawks will be looking to make their own adjustments after Tennessee handed them a 19-point defeat on Saturday.
WVU then travels to No. 10 Texas Tech, will return home to play No. 24 Oklahoma, before playing Baylor twice and finishing the stretch with a road game at No. 5 Texas.
Whatever adjustments the Mountaineers hope to make, they’ll learn rather quickly if they work.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say we’re not confident in our defense,” WVU forward Derek Culver said. “It’s just missed assignments here and there, but those add up after a while. When you’re playing some of the best teams in the country, they’re going to capitalize on your mistakes.”
Iowa State (2-9, 0-6) has struggled this season and has yet to win a Big 12 game.
The Cyclones have lost five straight, including Saturday’s 95-56 loss against Mississippi State in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Iowa State is ninth in the Big 12 in scoring (66.5 ppg), but its 77.2 points per game allowed is last in the conference.
As far as defensive changes, WVU head coach Bob Huggins said there is little that hasn’t already been tried.
“We’ve tried to match what other people do to a degree, unless we thought we had the advantage offensively to where they had to size down,”Huggins said. “We can do some things, but when the shots do not go in, you’re not going to win. When all your shots come from the perimeter and you go 1 for 2 from the free-throw line consistently, as we did in the second half, you’re not going to win.
“You’re not going to win hard games like this. As poorly as we shot the ball and as poorly as we shot it from the free-throw line, it’s amazing we were in the game for as long as we were in the game.”
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