WVU defensive woes will be challenged by No. 25 Texas

MORGANTOWN — The WVU men’s basketball team finds itself in an ironical situation.

Like when a check for $100 comes to your mailbox, the same day a bill for $200 arrives.

In the case of WVU coach Josh Eilert, he knows improvements must be made on defensive for the Mountaineers (5-10, 0-2 Big 12).

Yet the opponent at 6 p.m. Saturday inside the Coliseum is No. 25 Texas, not exactly the best team to try and tinker defensively with.

WVU STATS

“The one thing that has stuck out to me is we gave up 81 points (against K-State) and we gave up 89 points against Houston,” Eilert said. “In league play, we’re giving up 85 points a game. I’ve told our guys that in this league, you have to hang your hat on some defense.”

And then along comes the Longhorns (12-3, 1-1) armed with guard Max Abmas, who once led the nation in scoring when he played at Oral Roberts and his 463 career 3-pointers are seven more than the entire WVU roster has made in the previous two seasons combined.

Dylan Disu was the MVP of the 2023 Big 12 tournament, but is just now getting back into the swing of things after offseason foot surgery.

He had 33 points against Cincinnati on Tuesday, so his recovery seems to be going well.

Depending on the lineup Texas coach Rodney Terry goes with today, it’s possible the Longhorns could put five players on the floor who are scoring in double figures.

“Trying to figure out who you can stunt off of to help your teammates, certainly that’s one of the issues trying to guard these guys,” Eilert said. “You try to figure out where their weakness is, and they don’t have very many.”

That’s bad news for the Mountaineers, who have allowed their first two Big 12 opponents to shoot a combined 53.4% from the field.

“In the Big 12, there’s not too many teams like Texas,” WVU forward Pat Suemnick said. “Most teams have a few guys. We have a defensive game plan, and I trust our assistant coaches with the scouting and preparing. A lot of times, it’s just our execution of it.”

Eilert knows Texas has the size advantage, but his main concern is keeping the Longhorns from getting out and running in packs.

“Their one of the best in the country at going downhill,” Eilert said. “We have to figure out our defensive transition, getting back, getting matched and shoring that up.”

West Virginia enters the game on a three-game skid and is trying to avoid an 0-3 start in league play for a second straight season.

Texas has won the last four meetings by an average of 14.5 points per game, including a 94-60 beating in the Moody Center last year that equals the worst Big 12 loss for the Mountaineers.

“We’ve got to be us against them on the defensive end,” Eilert said. “We’ve got to get back in transition for sure. It’s got to be team defense. You’ve got to have as much ball pressure as possible, but that ball pressure has got to understand you have help behind you. We’ve got to understand we’re all connected on the defensive end.”