Sherman Shows Out in Front of Family
West Virginia guard Taz Sherman put up a game-high 23 points in the Mountaineers 74-66 win over TCU on Tuesday night. It was just the third game back after suffering a groin injury in practice leading up to the matchup versus Texas Tech and followed a career-high 25 points in the win over Kansas.
Sherman tried to give it a go and went through warmups at Texas Tech but could not go after tweaking it in pregame. A few days later, Taz saw the floor again in a double-overtime loss to Oklahoma but was limited to five points in 14 minutes, and it was obvious he was not near 100%.
At first, I was very timid in the way I moved just so I wouldn’t reinjure it because I did that in warmups at Texas Tech,” said Sherman. “I was eventually going to try to play. We did put a wrap on, I took some medication, and I was feeling OK. But then I injured it again in warmups of the Texas Tech game. So, I was just trying to prevent that when I first got back.”
The Missouri City, TX native, started to look more comfortable in the first game of a three-game road trip to the State of Texas. West Virginia avenged their earlier season home loss to Texas with a 19-point second half comeback against the Longhorns, where Sherman played 30 minutes and registered 14 points, and it was clear he was starting to look more like himself.
In the second game against TCU, West Virginia struggled to find offense outside of forward Derek Culver. Sherman checked into the game and gave the Mountaineers some breathing room in the first half, burying consecutive threes, and put up eight first half points. Then, in the second half, Sherman got comfortable for a big 15-point second half.
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
“I’m starting to feel a little looser – just getting to my spots more,” said Sherman. “I’m able to move a little better than I did when I first got back off the injury. I’m able to play defense more – slide my feet and just use my quickness and speed just to get easy layups, back cuts, and just get open. So, yeah, I’m feeling comfortable now. I’m feeling back like 100% now. So, yeah, I’m good.”
The game also marked the first time his family was able to see him play this season.
“It’s always good to come home and play in my state and have some friends and family come out,” he said. “This game was the first game that my mom and little brother have been to this year. It was great to see them, and I just had to put on a show.”
Sherman is currently third on the team in scoring, averaging 13.2 points per game on the season, and his numbers have increased in conference play, producing 14.4 ppg.
Sherman and the Mountaineers are back in action Saturday (Feb. 27) as they play host to the Kansas State Wildcats at 5:00 pm EST on ESPN2.
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