MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — What began with tons of uncertainty ended in even more frustration Sunday in Indianapolis.
The West Virginia men’s basketball season came to a sudden halt after a near-monumental comeback came up just short in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Maybe it felt like 2009, because it was Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim on the opposite sideline again getting the better end of the deal against the Mountaineers, just like he did a few times in the old Big East days.
Except this was 2021, a year and a season unlike anything ever witnessed before.
In the end, maybe that summed up this 2020-21 WVU men’s hoops team, because what the Mountaineers were one day, wasn’t exactly true the next.
“We kind of came out flat today, not much energy,” WVU guard Sean McNeil said after the 75-72 loss against Syracuse. “We looked kind of confused out there, I thought. So, yeah, it’s definitely tough to go out like we did.”
If it ended in confusion, there were definitely other times worth celebrating.
There were other times when it appeared the Mountaineers were on the cusp of something truly special.
And there were times this group left you scratching your head.
No one knew what to expect back in November, because no one knew just how much of a season there would be, the result of the COVID-19 pandemic still hitting the sports world head on.
No one knew what to expect at the start of the new year, after prized sophomore forward Oscar Tshiebwe announced he was leaving the program and transferred to Kentucky.
“What are we going to do?” Bob Huggins said then, repeating the question that was laid out before him. “We’re going to win more games.”
The Mountaineers did just that, reaching as high as No. 6 in the AP Top 25 on March 1 and WVU was ranked in the top 25 for every day of the season for the third time over the last five years.
A revitalized offense was the reason so many TV analysts gave as to how the Mountaineers remained among the elite.
After Tshiebwe’s departure, WVU went on to average 78.8 points per game.
Freshman Jalen Bridges stepped into the starting lineup for Tshiebwe and promptly scored 19 points against Oklahoma in his first game as a starter.
Bridges found his role as an extra perimeter shooter, where Tshiebwe was an inside force.
While the team connected on 5.4 3-pointers per game with Tshiebwe, the Mountaineers averaged 8.5 per game after he left.
Were those numbers once-in-a-lifetime stats? Not exactly.
WVU scored more during Jevon Carter’s junior and senior seasons, although those numbers came via ‘Press’ Virginia’s hectic full-court pressure that created so many extra possessions.
John Beilein’s teams at WVU consistently made more threes.
The difference being Beilein never lost Kevin Pittsnogle in the middle of the season. Carter never packed up shop and left Press Virginia hanging in late December.
Maybe this transformation was once-in-a-lifetime, one that saw Bridges gain more confidence as the season wore on, while McNeil and Taz Sherman bombed away from the outside.
Leading the way were Deuce McBride and Derek Culver, an inside-outside tandem that grew into all-Big 12 players.
“They’re good people. That’s what I just told them in the locker room,” Huggins said. “They’re as good a people as I’ve had the privilege of being around in all of my years of coaching.
“They’re really good guys. They’re good guys. They care about each other. They really are a team. I think I’ll remember just how good a people they were and will continue to be, I’m sure.”
They grew through COVID-19 and bonded through adversity.
And they kept things interesting.
Of the 10 losses, only one came by more than five points.
They pulled off a 19-point comeback win against Oklahoma State and McBride solidified another second-half comeback win against Texas Tech with a late-game shot.
They gave No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 3 Baylor everything they could handle in close defeats.
WVU nearly pulled off another miracle against Syracuse, getting as close as two points after trailing by 11 with under two minutes remaining.
“I thought, when we would get over the hump there and take the lead, we wouldn’t look back,” McNeil said. “Credit to them, they have guys that can shoot and score the ball. Buddy (Boeheim) obviously knows how to fill it up, so it’s just heartbreaking.”
What was mostly unsaid through the season was how inexperienced this team was in terms of handling success and high expectations.
Only Gabe Osabuohien had played in an NCAA tournament before, and that came as a freshman at Arkansas.
McBride was in his first season as a starter. The only postseason Culver and Emmitt Matthews Jr. had ever experienced was the CBI.
A lot can happen over the next six months and McNeil said the loss to Syracuse would stew in many of his teammates during that time.
There is an opportunity for the Mountaineers’ roster to return intact next season, which would create more interesting scenarios.
“We didn’t go as far as we wanted to,” McNeil said. “We didn’t accomplish things that we had set out to do, but I think this tournament plays into a big role of experienced guys that have been here and know what to expect. So, as we go forward, obviously, I think this will be good for us.”
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