MORGANTOWN — For everything positive that happened to West Virginia Wednesday night, it took all of 22.6 seconds to determine the Mountaineers’ 84-81 loss against Iowa State inside Hilton Coliseum.
You may think that’s not a lot of time, not even long enough to cook a hot dog in a microwave, but 22.6 seconds was pure disaster for WVU, which has now lost 12 of its last 13 games.
Those 22.6 seconds maybe symbolize this entire season, in that WVU (14-14, 3-12 Big 12) got off to a great start, only to see it all come apart late.
In those 22.6 seconds, the Mountaineers killed themselves, got killed by a no-call from the refs and then just threw up a nonchalant 35-footer on a shot that could have tied the game.
You can also add in here that WVU’s defense in the second half was more to blame for this one, and there would be little argument here.
The Mountaineers had a 12-point lead with 14:19 remaining, but as Iowa State guard Izaiah Brockington got hot — he finished with 35 points on 14 of 22 shooting — the Cyclones roared back in the same fashion that we’ve all seen too many times this season.
“If you noticed, they went after the same guy every time,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said. “We were in man and then we tried to play match-up, and they went at him every time in match-up. As I continue to tell our guys, ‘They watch film, too.’ They know who guards and who doesn’t guard.”
Considering Iowa State shot 63% (17 of 27) in the second half, there simply wasn’t much guarding going on by the Mountaineers.
Now we get to those final seconds, in which WVU held a slim 81-80 lead and had the ball, as Taz Sherman prepared to inbound it to teammate Jalen Bridges.
Iowa State was supplying full-court pressure. Huggins pointed out that all five Cyclones were inside the foul line on the play, probably looking to foul whoever took in Sherman’s pass.
“I drew it up for them twice … twice,” Huggins said. “It would have unquestionably worked.”
Huggins plan was to have one guy run at the ball and another cut in from the side to keep those five defenders close to the foul line.
Someone was supposed to set a screen to get a teammate open to race down the floor for the old home-run pass.
None of that transpired.
“Coach told us after the game that we all just did our own thing on that play,” WVU guard Malik Curry said.
Rather than throwing the long pass, Sherman tried to hit Jalen Bridges with a pass that was no more than a few feet away.
Brockington got a little contact on Bridges as the ball was being thrown and Bridges really didn’t have much of a chance to grab the ball.
Brockington did. He came up with the steal of the game and put it in to give Iowa State an 82-81 lead on a play you almost had to see to believe.
WVU did get the ball inbounds to Curry on the next possession, and the WVU point guard, who had 19 points off the bench, drove down the floor and looked like he had a good look at the rim.
He got bumped, nothing major, but there was definitely contact. In a game that had a total of 47 fouls called, it looked like there was more than enough evidence to get a whistle.
“I got a decent look. If there was contact or no contact, I’ve got to finish that,” Curry said.
Instead of another whistle, the refs looked the other way, much like they have at other crucial points of the season — Sherman’s concussion against Baylor for starters — but much to Curry’s credit, he did not put any blame of the referees.
“I can’t blame the refs,” Curry said. “The calls were pretty even. I’m not mad at the refs. I feel like I should have finished at the basket.”
The missed shot was batted around and Iowa State eventually came up with the rebound, which has been another season-long issue for WVU.
Gabe Kalscheur was fouled with 8.1 seconds left and made both free throws for the final score.
In those final 8.1 seconds, Sherman had the ball in his hands and brought it up the court, but rather than look to come off a screen or something, he simply launched a 35-footer.
If it was a give-up play, then maybe it’s a sign that this losing streak has finally overcome this WVU team and it has become too much of a cross to bear.
It all took just 22.6 seconds, in what characterized almost perfectly as to what has happened to WVU this season.
“It’s everybody’s fault,” Curry said. “We just didn’t execute.”
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