Previewing No. 14 West Virginia vs. No. 4 Texas
No. 14 West Virginia takes on No. 4 Texas in a Big 12 showdown Saturday afternoon.
The Mountaineers (9-3) are coming off a pivotal road win at Oklahoma State, when they came back from a 19-point deficit to ultimately defeat the Cowboys 87-84.
After dropping their first game without big Oscar Tshiebwe, who left the program earlier in the week to enter the transfer portal, West Virginia finally got into its groove with a new rotation. The Mountaineers have a smaller lineup, with forward Derek Culver secured in the post.
The Longhorns (9-1) began the new year with a 78-72 victory at Iowa State. Texas was led by forward Andrew Jones, who posted a career-high 23 points in addition to 6 rebounds and 4 assists. All five of the Longhorns’ starters scored in double figure and combined for 71 of the team’s 78 points.
While Texas has a lethal offense, the game will come down to whether or not WVU can get past the Longhorns defense.
The Longhorns rank first in the Big 12 for defensive field-goal percentage, holding their opponents to 38.3% scoring from the field.
West Virginia guard Taz Sherman is confident that the Mountaineers’ new offensive lineup will be able to penetrate the lane.
“With our offense now, since it’s changed a little bit,” Sherman said, “we run a 4-out-1-in thing so that Derek doesn’t get double teamed a lot. And if he does, he has the passing and vision to find an open guy.”
In addition to Tshiebwe, and forward Isaiah Cottrell, who suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in his left leg, West Virginia has several additional players who are battling injury or sickness.
West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins told media Friday that guard Sean McNeil continues to suffer from an injured toe, and that Culver is “banged up” and limping as a result of how he is defended at the post.
Further, the Mountaineers have two players, whose names were not disclosed, who are recovering from a bout of the flu after the team’s trip to Oklahoma earlier in the week.
"We've got a couple of guys with the flu," Huggins said. "Not COVID-19; they've been tested. The flu can make you pretty sick, and we've had some guys that are sick. We're banged up, man. We're not what we were going into last week physically, that's for sure, but they'll respond. They always do."
The Mountaineers will need to maintain their stamina throughout all 40 minutes against the Longhorns, who are notoriously fast, especially on the transition.
“We’ve got to keep them on the transition,” Huggins said. “They’re terrific in transition. They can all run like crazy and we’ve got to make it more of a half-court game.”
The Mountaineers and Longhorns will tip-off at the WVU Coliseum on Saturday at 1:00 pm EST on ESPN.
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