MORGANTOWN — A year later, it’s all even for the WVU men’s basketball team.
In terms of the Mountaineers’ record, they are no better, no worse.
Following Tuesday’s 76-72 road loss against No. 15 TCU, WVU is 13-9 overall and 2-7 in the Big 12, which is the official halfway point in conference play.
WVU hit the exact same point last season with the exact same record.
“We didn’t come to play,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said after the TCU game. “They were much more enthusiastic. They were a step ahead of us. They had more bounce than we had.”
In 2022, the second half of the Big 12 schedule proved to be a disaster that included seven-consecutive losses sandwiched in between home wins against Iowa State and TCU.
An opening-round victory against Kansas State in the Big 12 tournament led to a 24-point blowout loss against Kansas, and the season ended with a 16-17 record.
That all prompted an offseason of change that included eight players either transferring or having used up their eligibility, while nine new players were brought into the mix.
Four came via the transfer portal, three by way of junior college and two were incoming freshmen.
Huggins’ message about the newcomers has been mixed throughout the season, beginning with “the ball goes in” at the start of preseason practice, when talking about the transfers he brought in.
For a while it did, as the Mountaineers were averaging 81 points per game in the non-conference season.
Since the start of Big 12 play, WVU’s offense is down to 70 points per game and the Mountaineers are making just 41.5% of their shots, which is eighth in the league.
That’s prompted a different message from Huggins.
“This portal thing and transfers and all of that, it takes a while to be able to put guys together,” he said after WVU’s win at Texas Tech on Jan. 25. “I think we’re starting to come together a little bit better. It takes more time than, obviously, what we anticipated and, I think, more time than what most people anticipated.”
Through it all, there have been obstacles in both seasons other than losses piling up.
Last season, WVU’s top player, Taz Sherman, missed one game due to COVID-19 and missed another after suffering a concussion.
This season, WVU players have dealt with the firing of assistant coach Larry Harrison midway through the season, as well as the NCAA’s decision to not grant immediate eligibility to guard Jose Perez.
WVU guard Erik Stevenson has also dealt with his own obstacles stemming from two costly technical fouls at the start of Big 12 play that led to a public apology, and then a cold shooting streak that lasted over the next six games.
As far as the team’s record over the two seasons, there are just subtle differences.
In the two challenge series, WVU knocked off UConn (Big East) and then fell to Arkansas (SEC) last season, while losing to Xavier (Big East) and beating Auburn (SEC) this season.
In the Thanksgiving tournaments, WVU lost to Marquette last season in the Charleston Classic. Marquette went on to become a No. 9 seed in the 2022 NCAA tournament and lost in the first round.
A season later, WVU fell to then-No. 24 Purdue in Portland, but the Boilermakers are now the No. 1-ranked team in the country.
With nine games left in the regular season, WVU is scheduled to face six teams ranked in the AP Top 25. Five of the nine games are at the Coliseum, beginning with Saturday’s match-up against Oklahoma.
The opportunity is there for WVU to turn its fortunes around, but going off Tuesday’s loss to the Horned Frogs, the Mountaineers are dealing with internal issues that come with a frustrating season.
“The guys who are supposed to be our leaders did not lead,” Huggins said. “We may have to find ourselves some new leaders. You can’t have your leaders pouting, because they made mistakes. It’s their fault. It’s not anybody else’s fault. That’s guys who have been here a long time.”
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