Takeaways: WVU Basketball Running Out of Time

WVU Basketball fell to Ohio State in overtime 78-75 on Saturday night in Cleveland, Ohio. As the Mountaineers move to 5-8, let’s look at some takeaways from the game.

West Virginia Running Out of Time

West Virginia after 13 non-conference games sits at 5-8 with no quality wins. WVU came close with Virginia, St. John’s and Ohio State, and led by 11 at halftime vs. SMU. Now, despite having talent from the returning players, WVU moves into the Big 12 gauntlet, which isn’t pretty for about the first month.

WVU’s First Big 12 Games:

@ No. 3 Houston / Jan. 6

vs. Kansas State / Jan. 9

vs. No. 21 Texas / Jan. 13

@ No. 12 Oklahoma / Jan. 17

vs. No. 2 Kansas / Jan. 20

West Virginia has to play four ranked teams out of the gate. The only non-ranked team, Kansas State, made the Elite-8 last season. It’s only going to get harder from here, especially with Jesse Edwards out for about three weeks.

The Mountaineers have eight losses already and now need to compete at the top half of the Big 12 if they want an at-large bid. If not, WVU will have to win the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City to make the NCAA Tournament.

Need Second Half Rebounding

At one point vs. Ohio State, the Buckeyes had more rebounds (19) than points (18). OSU had 10 early offensive rebounds as the Mountaineers couldn’t get gritty in the paint. The second half was a different story, as interim HC Josh Eilert challenged the guys.

West Virginia still lost the rebounding battle 47-46 but improved on the glass throughout the game. If West Virginia can clean up the rebounding issue and consistently do so, they’ll fit right in with the usual Big 12 play.

A Lot of What Ifs

It’s a shame for Eilert and his staff that they couldn’t get a full season with this roster because they’ve built a roster with talented basketball players. WVU was unlucky with the entire offseason but even now with Edwards missing time once everyone comes back. It seems like once Edwards is back, it could be too late to make a run. So what if West Virginia had their full roster for the entire season?

A lot of what ifs with WVU Basketball date back to this past June with Bob Huggins till the present day and will continue for a long time.