WVU in a race down the stretch to strengthen its resumé for the NCAA tournament

MORGANTOWN — Somewhere in the back of his mind, as Darian DeVries prepares the WVU men’s basketball team for its final four games of the regular season, there is a magic number of victories the Mountaineers need to reach in order to be selected for the NCAA tournament.

“Deep down, I think I know what it is,” he said.

Not that DeVries was going to reveal that number, “Overall, let’s just go win. Go win a game, try to win the next one and do that to finish out the year.”

Rest assured, that number isn’t 16, which is where the Mountaineers (16-11, 7-6 Big 12) currently find themselves, as they get set to host TCU at 9 p.m. Tuesday inside the Coliseum.

The metrics

WVU enters the game ranked No. 48 in the NET, the NCAA’s evaluation tool for at-large bids and seeding for the NCAA tournament.

The Mountaineers are a combined 8-11 this season in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games.

TCU (15-12, 8-8) is ranked No. 74, which makes today’s game a Quad 2 game for the Mountaineers.

WVU’s remaining schedule has just one more Quad 1 opportunity remaining, the road game against BYU (No. 29) on March 1.

The rest of the schedule: TCU, at Utah (No. 73) and then home against UCF (No. 78) will be either Quad 2 or Quad 3 games and essentially must-win opportunities for the Mountaineers.

These are not metrics you’ll find posted inside the WVU locker room.

In terms of NCAA tournament bubble talk, DeVries isn’t one to get into too much detail with his players, preferring to let the focus ride on each upcoming game.

“Our communication with our team is we are playing for something right now,” DeVries said. “Right now, most people would agree that if the season ended today, we’re in the tournament. We’ve got to do our part. These are meaningful games and we have to find ways to continue to put some wins up there.”

According to computer projections found at teamrankings.com, WVU’s magic number is 19 wins, which gives the Mountaineers a 73.4% chance of making the tournament.

A 20-win season takes WVU chances up to 92.2%.

Bring on the Horned Frogs

TCU, while ranked 26 spots lower than WVU in the NET, is fighting for its own postseason opportunities.
A victory against WVU on the road would actually be another Quad 1 win for the Horned Frogs.

The matchup features the two lowest-scoring teams in the Big 12 and two of the poorest shooting teams in the conference.

TCU won the first meeting this season 65-60, in a game that was tied at 58 with 1:29 remaining.

Vasean Allette went on a 7-0 run in the final minute and WVU didn’t score again until Joseph Yesufu hit a meaningless lay-up at the buzzer.

“It seems like we’re pretty evenly matched,” DeVries said. “Our first game certainly played out that way. It came right down to the last few possessions. Like a lot of games in the Big 12, it comes down to who can make the most plays on that particular night, I anticipate (Tuesday) being no different.”

Key for WVU

The Big 12 stats will tell you the Horned Frogs are the next-to-worst free-throw shooting team in the conference at 65%.

Those stats lied in the first meeting, as the Horned Frogs went 20 of 23. TCU went 14 of 16 in the second half, a major source of unexpected points.

Either TCU has to live up to its stats in this one or WVU simply must do a better job of playing defense without fouling.

“We let them get to the rim and get to the free-throw line,” DeVries said. “The free-throw disparity in that game was rather large. We can’t have that and expect to win games.

“We have to keep them off the free-throw line, and part of that is keeping them in front of us.”