MORGANTOWN — Tre Mitchell’s power move through the paint was cut off Friday night, and so the WVU forward went strictly to his instincts.
Or, in this case, Mitchell simply flipped the ball up over his head from just a couple of feet in front of the rim and it went in.
As the Mountaineers ran past Portland State 89-71 inside the Moda Center in Portland, Ore., in the consolation bracket of the Phil Knight Legacy tournament, it was another case of shoulders being shrugged.
The collection of WVU forwards stood out in this one, with Mitchell’s basket just one of many highlights that also included a couple of lob dunks and power moves in the paint.
Mitchell didn’t miss a shot in the first half on his way to 16 points.
Emmitt Matthews Jr. didn’t miss in the first half, either, as WVU (5-1) shot a blazing 65.5% over the first 20 minutes. Matthews added 14 points.
It was the type of performance you’d hope to see on Thursday against No. 24 Purdue, except WVU’s forwards failed to show up for that one.
And this is where you shrug your shoulders.
This collection of bigs looked good against the undersized Vikings (2-4), who are in no way to be confused for any of the better teams WVU will face throughout this season.
They looked really good against Pitt, which again, isn’t a program anywhere close to Kansas or Baylor.
But, the one time this season the Mountaineers have played a quality opponent, WVU’s bigs didn’t contribute, unless you consider the fouls they committed against the Boilermakers.
Can these WVU forwards step up when the opponent is punching back?
At this point we just don’t know.
They’ll have another opportunity against Florida (4-2) on Sunday. The Gators have a nice and experienced big man in Colin Castleton (6-foot-11 and 240 pounds), who averages 20.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
WVU and Florida will play for fifth place in the tournament.
If they did, though, these Mountaineers are suddenly a team to take a look at.
If Mitchell and Matthews find some consistency at both ends of the floor, WVU head coach Bob Huggins just might have something.
There’s a lot more “ifs” to go.
If Jimmy Bell Jr. can get to a point where he can play defense without fouling and then chip in a little bit on offense, WVU is suddenly a lot better.
If Mohamed Wague continues to develop, rebound and run the floor or if James Okonkwo matures into a rim protector and shot blocker, then WVU is nowhere close to being the pushover it was last season.
And then all of them have to REBOUND the basketball, something that was a struggle against the Vikings, who came away with a 30-27 advantage on the glass.
It likely won’t all happen at once, it never does in college basketball.
The first positive step, though, would be to make some sort of difference against a good opponent.
Something that says, “Hey, we can reach a certain level against teams with just as much talent.”
If it happens, WVU becomes so much better, because you’re getting good guard play from Erik Stevenson, Joe Toussaint and Kedrian Johnson.
Seth Wilson has been solid off the bench and Kobe Johnson hasn’t done anything to hurt WVU.
Then you see what Jose Perez brings to the table when he becomes eligible.
All of a sudden, teams would have to focus on a balanced attack, one that has already shown is going to play hard and compete, hustle for loose balls and show some overall grit.
It could also be a team that opponents would have to guard all over the floor, but that option depends on how these collection of bigs want to play moving forward.
They can begin to establish themselves against Florida on Sunday or we can all just continue to shrug our shoulders and wonder who the Mountaineers truly are.
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