Initial Thoughts on West Virginia Falling Flat to Arizona State

The 23rd-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers fell to Arizona State on Tuesday night, 65-57, marking their first bad loss of the season.

Here are a few of my initial takeaways from tonight's game.

The worst nightmare came true

WVU has done such a great job this season competing with and even beating teams that are better than them, at least on paper. Just a few days after upsetting No. 2 Iowa State, this was a prime flat spot for the Mountaineers, especially with a later-than-usual tip time. From the very jump, the Mountaineers looked deflated, fatigued, and out of sync.

A consistent second scorer

Javon Small is an incredible talent, but there are going to be nights like tonight where he's completely taken out of the game, and someone else has to shoulder the load offensively. Amani Hansberry and Jonathan Powell have had their moments, but neither has produced consistently to be a reliable scorer when something like tonight happens.

Crushed on the glass

Every time it looked like West Virginia was about to get a defensive stop, Arizona State got a second crack at it by rebounding the ball. The Mountaineers had very few second opportunities offensively, but that's nearly the case every night because of their lack of size. Defensive rebounding is a want-to, and WVU just didn't seem as motivated to go get the basketball.

Late defensive adjustment

I can't be too harsh on Darian DeVries because he's been phenomenal all year and is doing more with less than anyone in the country, but I firmly believe that if he had called for the full-court pressure a few minutes earlier, the Mountaineers would have had a much better chance to win the game. It really bothered the Sun Devils, and it would have likely created a few more turnovers.

The worst nightmare came true

A consistent second scorer

Crushed on the glass

Late defensive adjustment

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