Malik Curry Chose the Perfect Time to Step up for WVU

In West Virginia’s back-to-back losses to Kansas and Baylor, there’s been one very positive point in the team’s progression. Fifth-year senior Malik Curry has stepped up for the Mountaineers over the last week, giving the offense production that has been needed outside of Taz Sherman and Sean McNeil.

Curry, in his last two games, is averaging 21.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists. The first 15 games from Curry saw the Delaware native average 6.9 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

“He’s a great penetrator,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said on Friday. “That was his claim to fame before he got here. He penetrates with it, he’s got a great touch with the ball, he finishes over bigger people, which a lot of guys his size can’t do.”

Before transferring to WVU in the offseason, Curry was the go-to guy at Old Dominion for head coach Jeff Jones. Last season for the Monarchs, Curry was the leading scorer, averaging 15.7 points per game. Now, with Sherman dealing with the after effects of the COVID-19 virus, Curry has stepped up off the bench for the Mountaineers.

Outside of the last week, the standalone game where Curry showed his third-option potiental for WVU was against Eastern Kentucky, back in November. The 6-foot-1 guard finished the game with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Curry scored 10 of the last 16 points for the Mountaineers to avoid the upset from EKU.

Now, Curry has found his groove, and has shown that he can score whenever he wants to.

The question becomes if Curry can keep this up as the Mountaineers are currently in a gauntlet of the Big 12 schedule. Time will tell, but if Curry can stay on the floor and maintain his current confidence, the Mountaineers may have just got Curry to come alive at the perfect time.