Takeaways: West Virginia Squandered Road Win Opportunity

West Virginia basketball lost on the road to Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon. Let’s look at some takeaways from the game.

WVU Squandered a Road Win

WVU is 0-8 this season away from home; six true road games and two neutral site games. Heading into the game, Oklahoma State was winless in Big 12 play. With five minutes to go, the Mountaineers were up seven after a Quinn Slazinski three-pointer.

West Virginia simply squandered the game. WVU did not make a single field goal in the final three minutes and had poor shot selection, which resulted in Oklahoma State getting back into the game quickly. The Cowboys hit multiple threes from Bryce Thompson, Javon Small and John-Michael Wright. Misses by West Virginia on the other end in the final minute helped OSU close the game out with free throws.

After a home stand this week, West Virginia’s next two road games are against Texas and TCU.

Kriisa, Slazinski Were Rolling

On a positive note, Kerr Kriisa and Slazinski were rolling against Oklahoma State. The pair combined 10-of-14 from deep as it seemed like they couldn’t miss.

Slazinski in particular has had to change his role over the last month while Kriisa, RaeQuan Battle and Noah Farrakhan returned to the court. Slazinski was moved to the bench and has transitioned into more of a catch-and-shoot player rather than a facilitator from the beginning of the season.

The Iona transfer is averaging 10.5 points and 3.3 rebounds on 50% shooting overall and 50% from three since coming off the bench (six games).

At-Large Chance All But Gone

West Virginia now sits at 7-13 and 2-5 in the Big 12. Saturday’s loss is another “bad” loss for the Mountaineers as it’s a quad-3 loss.

At this point, WVU will have to hope they’re playing their best basketball once the conference tournament rolls around in March.

The Mountaineers will host Cincinnati on Wednesday night as they try to create more home magic.