WVU Basketball
Texas Routs West Virginia in Night Cap
| Matchup |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| FG | 29-64 | 18-51 |
| Field Goal % | 45.3 | 35.3 |
| 3PT | 9-23 | 3-16 |
| Three Point % | 39.1 | 18.8 |
| FT | 8-13 | 14-20 |
| Free Throw % | 61.5 | 70.0 |
| Rebounds | 42 | 34 |
| Offensive Rebounds | 16 | 11 |
| Defensive Rebounds | 26 | 23 |
| Team Rebounds | 0 | 0 |
| Assists | 16 | 10 |
| Steals | 7 | 4 |
| Blocks | 2 | 6 |
| Total Turnovers | 8 | 11 |
| Fouls | 21 | 15 |
| Technical Fouls | 0 | 0 |
| Flagrant Fouls | 0 | 0 |
Morgantown, WV – The Mountaineers got off to another slow start versus the Longhorns. It took four minutes before they notched some points on the scoreboard coming from a mid-range jumper by Esa Ahmad. The offense started to pick up some rhythm as Jermaine Haley made a sweet dish to Derek Culver underneath the basket. Then on the following possession, Lamont West utilized a pump fake and made a jumper from the right elbow.
Both offenses struggled mightily from the field. Texas went over four minutes without a made field goal and the Mountaineers had a stretch of hitting 1-9 shots with the only made field goal being a corner three from WVU guard Chase Harler.
Jermaine Haley drained a three. Then, caused a turnover on the defensive side, which led to an easy basket under the bucket from Chase Harler. Esa Ahmad started to get going offensively capitalizing on a feed from Culver, then hitting a three on the next possession cutting the Texas lead to 29-28 with 2:13 remaining in the first half.
Courtney Ramey hit a three following the timeout extending the lead back to four, then Matt Coleman pushed the floor on a fastbreak that led to an easy bucket following the blocked shot by Dylan Osetkowski. The Longhorns had a few good looks at the end of the first half, but were unable to get anything to fall. Texas took a 34-28 lead into the half.
The second half began with the Longhorns’ Kerwin Roach rocking the rim with a dunk and Courtney Ramey hitting a three from the top of the key on the next trip up the court. Coleman kept the offense going by finding Jaxson Hayes down at the block for another easy bucket.
Esa Ahmad broke the silence on the offensive end for the Mountaineers in the 2nd half as Derek Culver made a nice wrap around pass by the defender to Ahmad who was waiting on the block. The offense was not enough to help keep pace out the gate, the Longhorns offense ran efficiently and jumped out to a 24-7 run in the first 8:50 of the second half.
The Texas onslaught continued with numerous alley oops and open looks near the rim, shooting 53.1% from the field in the second half. “It’s embarrassing. I was embarrassed. I don’t know if they were, but I was.” Huggins said. The Mountaineers continued to struggle on the offensive end, lacking any movement and rotation to get any open looks.
West Virginia played the worst game they’ve played at the Coliseum this year dropping to the Longhorns 75-53, falling to 10-14 (2-9) on the season.
“You have guys who follow the game plan, those who don’t. You have guys who complain, those who don’t. You have guys who work hard, those who don’t. You have to come in and put in work on your own, I think. Now we have the best complex in America to shoot, there’s no excuses. I shouldn’t have to force them to come in. They should probably come in on their own.” Huggins said in the post game press conference.
