Rapid Takeaways From Houston's Beatdown of West Virginia

Initial thoughts on West Virginia's loss to Houston.

Jan 13, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Cougars guard Kingston Flemings (4) splits the defense West Virginia Mountaineers guard Amir Jenkins (2) and guard Treysen Eaglestaff (52) in the first half at Fertitta Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images | Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

Tonight was not the Mountaineers' night, to say the least. After a brutal start to the game, West Virginia quickly fell behind by double-digits and stayed at such a distance for basically the entirety of the night.

Here are a few of my thoughts from this one...

Shades of Kentucky

That first half performance was hard on the eyes and one that provided some flashbacks of the 2015 NCAA Tournament game against Kentucky. Yeah, sorry to bring that one back up. From the jump, you could tell WVU was out of sorts and felt the pressure of Houston's smothering defense. The ball barely touched the paint, and when it did, nothing positive came of it. Tonight's performance will go down as one of the worst first half performances in program history.

Just have to flush it

This isn't going to be the last time Houston puts on a defensive clinic this season, so don't take it to heart. If I'm Ross Hodge, I'm doing everything I can to keep the morale of this group at a high level. Losses like this aren't fun, nor is acceptable. That said, you have to not let it impact your confidence going into the Colorado game. Watch it, learn from it, and bury it. This team can still accomplish everything it set out to do at the beginning of this season. The key is not letting one abysmal performance snowball into a bad stretch of basketball.

What's it going to take to get to Houston's level?

Every time I watch Houston, I am floored by how well they are connected defensively and how fast they make up ground after pulling out of a double team. They are on a whole other level and one that Ross Hodge is trying to mimic, at least in terms of style of play. This bunch he has now just isn't as talented, nor as deep as the Cougars, which is obvious. Moving forward, though, I imagine Hodge will look to get longer and a lot faster. Aside from Honor Huff and Amir Jenkins, this team lacks speed, and that's at every position.

West Virginia will return home for its next matchup against Colorado on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.

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