Takeaways: WVU Basketball Needs to Figure Something Out Quick

WVU basketball dropped to 4-6 after a loss to UMass in Springfield, Mass. on Saturday night. Let’s take a look at some takeaways.

WVU Has New Identity, Needs to Figure It Out Quickly

It took WVU about 5-6 weeks to find their team identity with the original eight players. Even though they were still losing to St. John’s and Pitt, the team knew about who they were and how they played, led by Jesse Edwards and Quinn Slazinski. They were a slow-paced team that could steal wins over opponents that matched that. Now with bringing back Kerr Kriisa, Noah Farrakhan and eventually RaeQuan Battle, this team has to change their identity and now are behind everyone else.

WVU interim HC Josh Eilert has always wanted to play fast with Kriisa, and now that he’s back, some of the players from the beginning of the season aren’t used to the speed.

West Virginia has three non-conference games and they’re going to have to win all three of them if they even want to entertain at-large bid talks.

Kriisa, Farrakhan Are Quality Offensive Players

Saturday was just an all-around bad day for West Virginia, but if there was something positive to take away, it was that Kriisa and Farrakhan are quality players on offense. Better yet, they’re guards who can facilitate the offense and get a basket when needed.

Kriisa ended the game with 20 points and 6-threes. Farrakhan had 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting with four assists. These guys may play too fast for the speed of their teammates but that’s not their fault. WVU needed to show more pace of the game.

West Virginia has talented players, it’s finding a quick way to mesh them together.

Team Can’t Catch a Break

20 minutes before tipoff, West Virginia announced that Battle would be doubtful for the game due to flu-like symptoms. West Virginia loses to UMass after a slow start and some career days from the Minutemen. Then after the game, Eilert showed concerns for Edwards’ wrist which was injured early on in the contest.

West Virginia hasn’t proven that they aren’t a bad team, but there have been many things preventing them from playing altogether. At this point, it seems like the fans just want to see what this team was all about, rather than getting unlucky with ineligible and inactive players.

Click here to watch WVSN’s WVU basketball postgame show.