WVU Basketball

Bob Huggins Compliments Team, Saying They Never Complained During Losing Streak

Published

1 year ago

January 19, 2023

Photo: Kelsie LeRose / WVSN

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins was proud of his team after defeating No. 14 TCU on Wednesday night, 74-65. The win gave Huggins and his team their first win of Big 12 play, ending a five-game losing streak.

“They were never bitching, they were never down,” Huggins said after the win. “They always thought let’s go get the next one. We can win. We can make a run.”

WVU started conference play with an overtime loss to Kansas State in Manhattan and everyone watched them fall apart against Oklahoma State. From there, the team looked to find their old mojo against Kansas and Baylor in a home stretch but fell to both. The Mountaineers went back on the road and lost a tough one to Oklahoma.

After West Virginia’s fifth and final loss of the losing streak, Huggins told his players that the upcoming stretch features a lot of home games and a winnable road game.

“I got them together and said, ‘Fellas, we’re going to play three at home, and, certainly, a winnable away game. Let’s go make a run. 4-5 sounds a lot better than 0-9, I’ll tell you that,’ Huggins said.

Heading into the TCU game on Wednesday, WVU was in an absolute must-win scenario. You can not start 0-6 in this Big 12. West Virginia came out firing on both sides of the floor and was up 18 towards the end of the first half. TCU fought back but Kedrian Johnson and Jimmy Bell helped counter the late comeback.

“Man I’m happy we got one. Now we build,” WVU G Joe Toussaint said. “We’re going to enjoy this one tonight and get back to work [on Thursday].”

Huggins and his players have bought in that they can turn this around and catch up with the other teams in the conference after the 0-5 start.

West Virginia will have another opportunity for a good win at home on Saturday when they host No. 7 Texas. WVU needs to just take one game at a time.