MORGANTOWN — West Virginia’s losing streak reached five games Saturday, following a 77-68 loss on the road against Arkansas.
It’s the first time a Bob Huggins-coached WVU team has lost five straight since the 2018-19 season, in which WVU suffered through two five-game setbacks. The Mountaineers finished 15-21 that season.
The longest losing streak for the Mountaineers under Huggins is six, which came at the end of the 2012-13 season.
“I’m proud of our guys,” Huggins said. “We were down 19 points against a good basketball team in their place and we competed. We had a chance. We didn’t score on a couple of possessions I thought we maybe we had a chance to score on to get a little closer. We ran out of gas.”
WVU’s next three games are all against AP Top 25 teams in No. 4 Baylor (on Monday), No. 13 Texas Tech and No. 23 Iowa State.
“I’m looking forward to playing Baylor,” Huggins said. “I think we’re close. We’ve got to get more guys involved. We’ve got to get guys that really have the ability to contribute that have not.
“It’s an opportunity that I’m looking forward to. It’s an opportunity for those guys heading to the bus better feel the same way.”
As for the losing streak, WVU point guard Kedrian Johnson said it falls on the players and not the WVU coaching staff.
“None of it is on the coaches,” said Johnson, who led WVU with 18 points. “They’ve prepared us for battle with scouting reports and practice.
“We’ve talked as a team. Guys have got in the gym. We’ve made adjustments. We’re going to come around. I really believe that.”
Fouls and more fouls
West Virginia was whistled for 29 fouls and Arkansas attempted 34 free throws in the game.
Afterward, Huggins was not exactly happy with the officiating.
“First of all, this was the best officiated game that we’ve had since we started conference play,” the WVU coach said tongue in cheek. “Without a question, those guys really did a good job. Did we reach? Yeah, we reached some. Have they been taught not to? Absolutely. We fouled too much, but we fouled, because we were playing hard and trying to win, which I can live with.”
Gabe Osabuohien, who began his career at Arkansas before transferring to WVU in 2019, fouled out with 4:58 remaining. He had seven points.
Pauly Paulicap, Dimon Carrigan, Isaiah Cottrell and Jalen Bridges all finished with four fouls.
Battle of the boards
Arkansas finished with a 44-26 rebounding advantage. It was the largest single-game deficit on the glass of the season for the Mountaineers.
“I know our bigs were tired, but I don’t know,” Huggins said. “We just did some really dumb things. Quite frankly, our big guys aren’t rebounding the ball. They’re not making an effort to rebound it. It looks terrible when you’re our biggest guy on the floor and the ball gets shot and you just stand there and watch it. That’s not competing. That’s not helping your team.”
News and notes
** WVU fell to 2-7 all-time in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
** Sean McNeil was held below 10 points for the third consecutive game. In those games, he’s combined to go 6 of 24 from the floor and 2 of 13 from 3-point range. McNeil had seven points against Arkansas.
** WVU has shot worse than 40% from the field in four of its past five games. The Mountaineers shot 38.3% (23 of 60) against Arkansas.
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