Ross Hodge Breaks Down Houston’s ‘Tail-Whipping’ of WVU Basketball

WVU Basketball suffered a 77-48 loss to No. 7 Houston Tuesday night, dropping the team to 2-2 in Big 12 play. After a game plagued with scoring droughts and long runs by Houston, head coach Ross Hodge described it candidly in the postgame press conference.

“That was a good old-fashioned tail-whipping,” Hodge said after the game.

WVU had just five points in the first 15 minutes and 30 seconds of play with a 6:41 scoring drought. Houston capitalized over that stretch by taking a commanding 28-5 lead.

Hodge emphasized the importance of having a good start, adding how mistakes feel amplified when they start a game in a hole like the Mountaineers did.

“When you don’t get off to the good start, then you kind of start feeling the squeeze,” Hodge said. “And that’s what elite defenses can do to you.”

Paired with the slow start, WVU missed some of the few open looks it received, shooting 17-46 from the floor and 9-25 from three. The Mountaineers turned the ball over 15 times along with those numbers.

On the other end, WVU let Houston shoot 43.1% from the field and tally 12 offensive rebounds which turned into 19 second chance points. Hodge discussed how offensive lapses need to be made up for on the defensive end, something WVU failed to do Tuesday.

“You can’t do both. You can’t miss some open threes, miss some bunnies, miss free throws and then not defend at a high enough level to kind of keep yourself in the game,” Hodge added.

While WVU struggled to capitalize on opportunities, Hodge was sure to credit Houston for its ability to limit chances for the Mountaineers.

“You got to give them a lot of credit,” Hodge said. “Their physicality, their intensity. And then, on our end, when you have a couple of plays to make early to kind of settle everybody into it, you gotta make those plays and we didn’t make them.”

WVU basketball will play again at 6 p.m. on Saturday evening when the Mountaineers host Colorado.

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