Initial Thoughts Following West Virginia's Come-From-Behind Win Over UCF

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West Virginia got back in the win column on Saturday night, taking down the UCF Knights for their 16th win of the season and their seventh of Big 12 play. The Mountaineers erased a 14-point deficit to win 74-67
As always, a few of my quick thoughts from this one.
The worst broadcasting luck
Of course, this has nothing to do with what happened on the floor, but I'd be remiss to not point out how often the game before West Virginia always runs over or inevitably turns into an overtime game. Then, to make matters worse, FS1 takes a commercial break during the middle of the game, I assume to fix the visual issues they were having, resulting in four minutes of game action that no one could see.
Found something on offense?
After a dreadful first half performance, West Virginia did a much better job of penetrating and scoring inside, although they scored 10 fewer points there compared to what they did in the first half. Part of that was drawing fouls and getting to the free-throw line, a place where they've struggled mightily all season. Tonight? They went 15/17 in the second half, which helped them claw back in, take the lead, and seal the deal. Chucking up a ton of threes is just not what's best for this group, as we've seen over the past couple of games.
Staying alive!
There's still plenty of work to do, but WVU really needed to get this one. A quad 1 win, a road victory, against a team that is currently viewed as an NCAA Tournament team...just huge. This group battled, scrapped, and clawed all night long, even when things looked awfully bleak. A massive win not only for the resume, but also for the confidence of this group to erase such a major deficit on the road against a quality team. Now the attention turns to taking care of business at home on Wednesday night against a struggling Utah team. Get that one and keep your postseason hopes alive.
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Schuyler Callihan is the publisher of West Virginia On SI and has been a trusted source covering the Mountaineers since 2016. He is the host of Between The Eers, The Walk Thru Game Day Show, and In the Gun Podcast. The Wheeling, WV native moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2020 to cover the Charlotte Hornets and Carolina Panthers.
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