Initial Thoughts on West Virginia's Comfortable Road Win at Cincinnati

A few takeaways from West Virginia's win over Cincinnati.

Feb 2, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard Sencire Harris (10) high-fives guard Jonathan Powell (11) during a stop in play against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the first half at Fifth Third Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

West Virginia snapped a three-game losing skid Sunday afternoon, taking down the Cincinnati Bearcats, 63-50, on the road.

Here are a few of my initial thoughts from today's game.

Much stronger start

The beginning of games has been a nightmare recently for West Virginia for some reason. That was certainly not the case this afternoon, as the Mountaineers took a 40-25 lead into the locker room. WVU forced nine Cincinnati turnovers, limiting them to 26% shooting from the field. Offensively, the Mountaineers were extremely efficient, connecting on 55% of shots from the floor and from three.

Three-point shooting..so, they can make them

During the three-game losing streak, West Virginia connected on just 12-of-68 attempts from beyond the arc. That's 17%. Obviously, that's not a winning recipe for anyone, especially for a group that relies so heavily on the three-ball. They snapped out of the shooting funk today, going 9/18 from deep with Javon Small having a huge day going 4/7.

Back on track?

On paper, this looked like a "get right" opportunity for West Virginia, and it was. While Cincinnati is certainly going through it, you have to give credit to the Mountaineers for playing a complete game on both ends of the floor. As I mentioned yesterday, it all starts with their defense. When they can play at an elite level on that end, it makes them a dangerous team to deal with. Perhaps they got their confidence back and will have a chance to prove they're back on track with a win over TCU, another team they should beat, on Wednesday.

Have yourself a day, Joe

Every now and then, Joseph Yesufu will break out and have a big game off the bench. Today was one of those days. He scored 16 points on a perfect 6/6 shooting from the floor and 4/4 from deep. I can't stress enough how important it is that Yesufu becomes more consistent as a scorer off of the bench.

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