Takeaways: WVU Basketball Played a Complete Game vs. UCF

WVU Basketball broke their four-game losing streak on Tuesday night defeating UCF 77-67. Let’s look at some takeaways from the game.

West Virginia Played Its Best Basketball

The Mountaineers have not played a great brand of basketball throughout the majority of the season while inserting players back into the rotation. Against UCF, West Virginia played a complete game and showed once again that they can give opposing Big 12 teams a run for their money at home.

WVU shot 48% from the field, 50% from three and played a good zone defense to disrupt UCF’s offense that shot 24% from three on 38 attempts.

WVU G RaeQuan Battle looked like the to-go scorer he was when he first became eligible for the Mountaineers. Battle has scored 70 points on 46% shooting in his last three games. The Montana State transfer finished this game with 24 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Jesse Edwards finished with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds on efficient field goal shooting. Kerr Kriisa dished out seven assists with only one turnover. WVU also had bench production from sophomore forward Josiah Harris, who was a perfect 3-of-3 from the field with eight points.

It was an overall great game by West Virginia, who was in desperate need of getting back into the win column.

WVU Controlled the Glass

West Virginia was out-rebounded by UCF on both sides of the floor the first time the two matched up in Orlando. This time around, WVU shut down UCF’s big Ibrahima Diallo and out-rebounded the Knights 42-36. This was the second time during Big 12 play that West Virginia out-rebounded its opposition with the other game being Kansas.

Can WVU Use Momentum to Secure First Road Win?

West Virginia is still looking for its first win outside of Morgantown this season. WVU is 0-6 in true road games and 0-4 on a neutral site. West Virginia has had close games with Virginia, Ohio State and Oklahoma State but failed to secure any of those games.

During a season of a lot of losses and adversity, WVU does gain some confidence back. The problem is their next game is at No. 6 Iowa State in Ames. Can West Virginia’s play from Tuesday travel with them during the upcoming two-game road trip?