MORGANTOWN — The moment the final second ticked off the Coliseum clock Tuesday, the 21st-ranked WVU men’s basketball team hit its first major hedging point of the season.
Arizona’s 75-56 victory in Morgantown was not exactly shocking. You could call it disappointing, but not exactly a setback.
To be honest, there are literally dozens of different ways to feel about the game, the season to this point and what lies ahead.
“They had us on the defensive end, they had us in a lot of different ways,” WVU head coach Darian DeVries said of the Wildcats. “When we countered with something, they were just able to make a quick adjustment.”
So let’s get right into this, because honestly, I’m not sure if there is exactly a right answer. There may not even be a right question.
As of this moment, do you double down that WVU is a top 25 caliber team and a Big 12 contender?
Or are the Mountaineers falling back to reality?
“He’s a heck of a player. You make a 30-footer, that’s a hell of a play, and he did. That’s a tough loss for them. I don’t know his injury status, but they are a more dangerous team with him in the lineup.”
That was Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd’s assessment of WVU without guard Tucker DeVries in the lineup.
It’s important to note that Lloyd is the only opposing coach in the country who has seen the Mountaineers both with DeVries and without him.
If you’re in the double-down camp, there is no definitive word on DeVries’ status. He may be out for the rest of the season. He may be back shooting 3-pointers when WVU travels to Colorado at 3 p.m. Sunday, a game that suddenly has a must-win kind of feel to it.
WVU was also without back-up point guard K.J. Tenner, who took a blow to the head against Oklahoma State, which means the Mountaineers’ main rotation is just seven players.
“I mean we played seven guys, we’re fine,” Darian DeVries said. “Injuries happen, foul trouble happens. We’re going to play. That’s just part of it.”
If you’re on the other side of the fence, here’s the thing: Have you not been paying attention?
Did you miss the Kansas game, the Oklahoma State game?
Those results weren’t flukes, believe me, no more than the Gonzaga and Arizona wins were when WVU was basically at full go.
Yet Javon Small can’t do it alone offensively. He nearly pulled that off Tuesday, almost willing the Mountaineers back into the game midway through the second half, only to see the Wildcats pull away once again.
Without Tucker DeVries, who else supplies a consistent threat?
Jonathan Powell is a fantastic freshman, yet he’s still a freshman. Some games he’ll go 5 of 7 from deep. Other games, he’ll be off the mark.
Eduardo Andre was fantastic against Kansas, but got sized-up against Arizona and got into foul trouble.
Amani Hansberry is still working his way back from an ankle injury.
Sencire Harris and Toby Okani have been great in their roles. There shouldn’t be a college coach in the country who wouldn’t enjoy having either of them on their roster.
Yet it’s difficult to ask either one to go out and get you 15 points each game.
Defensively, WVU has been better without Tucker DeVries.
Offensively, WVU is severely limited without him.
There’s no doubt Darian DeVries knows how to run a basketball program, yet his current options leave him little margin of error.
The Mountaineers are currently both sides of the coin that is flipping in mid air.
The problem is no one had called heads or tails yet.
