Defense on display as West Virginia travels to No. 17 Texas

MORGANTOWN — Buddy Hield and West Virginia both entered the Big 12 in 2012.

Not together, obviously, as Hield developed his offensive talents at Oklahoma, but Hield and the Mountaineers were seemingly joined at the hips for more than just the guard’s half-court shot that didn’t count in the 2016 Big 12 tournament.

Hield’s reign in the Big 12 represented the current state of the league’s hoops status, while Bob Huggins’ defensive-minded style at WVU represented what the Big 12 could one day become.

WVU STATS

That time is now in the Big 12. Once driven by high-powered offenses, the conference is now a defensive grind.

As recently as 2018, when Trae Young was the talk of college basketball, nearly half of the league’s schools averaged more than 80 points a game and nine schools allowed 67 or more points.

In 2021, only No. 1 Baylor and No. 6 Kansas scored more than 80 and the entire conference allowed fewer than 67 per game.

If there is one game to highlight the Big 12’s current state of affairs, it just might be Saturday’s showdown between WVU (11-1) and No. 17 Texas (10-2).

The Mountaineers enter the game having held their last six opponents to under 60 points, a run that hasn’t been equaled in Morgantown since the 2009-10 Final Four team.

That’s still chump change compared to the Longhorns, who lead the nation in fewest points allowed, holding teams to just 51.3 points per game.

Texas has held seven opponents to under 50 and has given up just 41.3 points over its last four games.

What’s gives? How did a league that was once so offensive driven become a Minister of Defense?

“It probably happened when there were coaching changes,” Huggins said. Texas head coach Chris Beard, “is a defensive guy. When Bruce (Weber) went to Kansas State, Bruce is a really good defensive guy.

“If you look at the changes over the years, it brought in some really good defensive guys.”

Beard first brought his style of tough defensive play to Texas Tech in 2016, about the same time WVU was hitting a peak with “Press” Virginia.

In 2019, Beard’s defense at Texas Tech took the Red Raiders all the way to the national championship game and he’s well on his way to developing that same style in his first season with the Longhorns.

“Let’s face it, we’re all in places where we’re not going to get the (high school prospect) No. 1-through-25 kid very often,” Huggins said. “So, you’ve got to figure it out.”

To that point, West Virginia still has things to figure out, as it enters Big 12 play.

While the Mountaineers have been solid on defense, they are also last in the conference in scoring, free-throw shooting, rebounding and assists.

“We got out-rebounded by (seven),” against Youngstown State, Huggins said. “Can you imagine what that would have been against Texas? We’ve got to do a better job.”

Where WVU has excelled is with the scoring combo of Taz Sherman and Sean McNeil. Sherman is second in the league in scoring at 20.9 points and McNeil is coming off a season-high 23-points last week against Youngstown State.

WVU is also second in the Big 12 in blocking shots and fourth in turnovers forced.

“We just have to do what we do,” Huggins said.

Where Texas has excelled is on defense, where the Longhorns simply don’t give teams many looks at the basket. Texas’ opponents have taken an average of 48.6 shots per game, by far the fewest among Big 12 teams.

Beard built his first Lonhorns’ roster through the transfer portal, where he signed six Division I transfers to go along with returners Andrew Jones, Courtney Ramey and Jase Febres.

Jones, in particular, was memorable against WVU last season. He hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds to lead Texas to a 72-70 win in Morgantown, before missing a 3-point attempt in the last seconds in an 84-82 loss in Austin.

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