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WVU Basketball Trying to Find Answers for Recent Slow Starts

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WVU men's baketball Javon Small
Kelsie LeRose / WVSN

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It happened again. WVU basketball dug themselves into a deep hole, one they couldn’t dig out of. And even though West Virginia showed more fight in the second half and mounted a comeback, bringing the game within single digits most of the second half after trailing by 20 at the half, it didn’t matter as they lost 63-49 to Houston on Wednesday night.

WVU head coach Darian DeVries, who had his team nationally ranked before enduring this three-game losing skid, didn’t have any answers after the loss to the Cougars either.

“I donโ€™t quite understand why we get off to slow starts,” said a clearly frustrated and perplexed DeVries during his postgame press conference.

He then pivoted to how his team was able to pick up their play in the second half.

“The reason we got back into the game (is that) I felt like our guys played defensively at a level that theyโ€™re capable of. For us, when weโ€™re good, itโ€™s our defense. We talked about shooting and all that stuff, but it just doesnโ€™t matter,” said DeVries.

“When we guard, our group has a chance to be special and can do some really good things against good teams. I thought in that second half, you saw that back again. That was great to see from a coaching standpoint. You have a tough half, a really tough half against a team like Houston, down 20, thatโ€™s not always the most encouraging thing to go in the halftime locker room as a task to try and come back. I thought the guys showed incredible fight in the second half and got back to what has made them successful throughout the year.”

DeVries told his team to leave the Coliseum remembering what their second half effort felt like and to bring that to practice and to Cincinnati.

But even though West Virginia showed some life and allowed the crowd to get back into the game, slow starts and Javon Small’s struggles continue to be a problem for the Mountaineers.

DeVries even admitted they were riding the wave while Small was on a tear, but knew they couldn’t rely on him to carry the scoring load every game. Small had only eight points against Houston, connecting on only 3-for-7 from the field.

While this latest defeat may feel a bit different than the recent losses to Arizona State and Kansas State, two teams who were struggling entering the matchup with WVU, it still counts the same and drops the Mountaineers to a 13-7 overall record and 4-5 mark in Big 12 play.

“The first half felt like our last two games to be honest with you. We just havenโ€™t played with the same spirit that we had prior to that. I thought the second half was great. If we get back to that and do it for a full 40 minutes, then we’re going to be right there where we need to be to win games down the stretch,” explained DeVries.

“I’ve told the guys it’s a long season. It’s tough. Itโ€™s a grind, and we’ve still got 11 games left, so there are lots of opportunities out there to go win games. Theyโ€™ve put themselves in a good position to survive a stretch like this where you go through a three-game losing streak, but at some point, youโ€™ve got to put the brakes on, and weโ€™ve got to get back on the other side of that column. Every night thereโ€™s an opportunity going forward where it’s a quad one or quad two type of game, and weโ€™ve got to win our share of those.”

DeVriesโ€™ WVU basketball team now has a few days to regroup before taking a relatively short trip to Cincinnati to face the Bearcats on Sunday, Feb. 2.

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