What Does West Virginia Need in ‘Opportunity’ Versus Baylor?

It seems like everyone has lost hope.

West Virginia has lost five-straight games, four to Big 12 schools and Arkansas, on Saturday. The Mountaineers have dropped in bracketology and the NET rankings, essentially a bubble team. Now, they have to face the defending national champions, Baylor, in Waco, Monday night.

The way Bob Huggins sees it, it’s an opportunity.

“It’s not tough; it’s an opportunity,” Huggins said on Saturday afternoon. “It’s an opportunity that I’m looking forward to and those guys heading for the bus better feel the same way. It’s an opportunity for us.”

West Virginia has struggled in a few statistical categories during the losing streak. To keep up with No. 8 Baylor, they will have to play nearly perfect.

WVU’s Last Five Games:

Three-Point Shooting (28 percent)

Heading into the season, the offense was expected to be a high point for this team. West Virginia has shot 31 percent from three, which is 301st in the country. In the last five contests, it’s been worse. If West Virginia wants to have a chance to end its losing streak, the team will need to shoot well against the Bears. It starts with Taz Sherman, Sean McNeil, and Jalen Bridges. This trio needs to take smart shots and not force anything from deep. The more efficient shots for West Virginia, the better.

Rebounding (28.2 per game)

It seemed like the Mountaineers had figured out the rebounding issue from November and December, but that quickly got exposed when playing physical teams like Texas Tech, Arkansas, Kansas, etc. In the last five games, WVU has been out-rebounded in every game, with the differential being -44. West Virginia will most likely get out-rebounded again on Monday, but if the team can prevent second-chance opportunities for the Bears, they can stay in it.

Committing Fouls (20.2 per game)

It hurts West Virginia when Gabe Osabuohien gets into foul trouble. Osabuohien is this team’s leader and the reason why they’ve won a lot of these games this season. When Osabuohien is sitting on the bench in foul trouble, it hurts this team. The Ontario native has worked on his offensive game, improving his ball handling and playmaking. Osabuohien is no longer a liability on the offensive end.

West Virginia’s opponents the last couple of weeks have not missed their free throws often, shooting 79 percent from the charity stripe.

For the positives, WVU has shot well from the free-throw line: 77 percent. In December, they were on pace to be the worst free throw shooting team in decades, but have gotten it together. The Mountaineers have also forced turnovers from the opposition, averaging 13.0 turnovers a game.