Darian DeVries Addresses West Virginia's Biggest Problem

The free throw line has not treated West Virginia well at all in Big 12 Conference play, in a variety of ways.

They're not getting to the line enough, they're putting opposing teams on the line too much, and teams who have shot it poorly all year are, for whatever reason, connecting on free throws at a rate much higher than their season average.

WVU head coach Darian DeVries even cracked a joke saying they've got to work on their free throw defense a little bit more in practice.

Just about every night, the Mountaineers are getting outshot at the free throw line, and on some nights, they're getting killed by it. There weren't many foul shots in their loss to BYU, but they did have a few untimely calls go against them in the second half that helped the Cougars put up a few more points. In the overtime loss to Baylor, the Bears went 27/32 from the line. If you go back to their loss to TCU, the Horned Frogs had 23 attempts to West Virginia's five.

Feb 15, 2025; Waco, Texas, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard KJ Tenner (3) loses control of the ball against Baylor Bears forward Norchad Omier (15) during the second half at Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

In Big 12 play, WVU has attempted more free throws than their opponents only four times, and there are more than a handful of games where they failed to reach 10 attempts. It's been frustrating for those on the floor and the fans, who have been all over the officials and rightfully so.

That being said, the Mountaineers can only worry about what they can control, and DeVries understands that.

"Our identity is to be physical and tough, and they’ve done a good job of that. We’re one of the better defenses in the country for that reason. It's just a matter of cleaning those little reach fouls. That’s not being physical; not being tough. You got to have a little more disciplined at the end of it just to fight that urge to try and get that last little reach, and again, that’s four to six points. That’s it, that’s all we’re talking about. So, we’ve had four games, one win and three tough losses, and when you’re talking about a game being decided by two, four points, where can you find those two to four points from? That’s an area right now we can go to find it. We got to keep them off the line; we got to get to the line more."

West Virginia University head coach Darian DeVries | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

Getting too reachy or handsy is more of the problem than it is the officials. Have they missed calls? Oh yes, loads of them. But it happens every night. You can't put the game in their hands. You have to take care of the matter yourself, such as defending with discipline and not getting out of position when guarding the ball.

Offensively, they have to put more pressure on the rim. It's hard to get to the free throw line when the majority of the offense is hoisting up threes or low-percentage jumpers late in the shot clock. The problem is, aside from Javon Small, the Mountaineers don't really have anyone who can get downhill and draw fouls in the paint.

So to rectify the problem, it transitions back to the defensive side of things. If they can clean up some of the poor fouls, it could be the difference in them making the NCAA Tournament or playing in the NIT.

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