The Road Plague: WVU's Struggles on the Road Continue
The Mountaineers have experienced a strong start to this season after a lackluster 2019. There have been moments this year where West Virginia has given their fans hope of another potential Final Four run, especially when they play at home. At the Coliseum this season, West Virginia is a perfect 10-0. The Mountaineers are averaging 80 points per game and are holding their opponents to just 59.3 points per game.
The stars of West Virginia have performed well at home and their per game averages are:
Oscar Tshiebwe - 11.5 points and 9.4 rebounds
Derek Culver – 12.7 points and 8.5 rebounds
Miles “Deuce” McBride – 10.5 points
Emmitt Matthews – 7.5 points
Collectively, the Mountaineers are shooting well and playing lock down defense in front of their home crowd. They are limiting turnovers and forcing their opponents into uncomfortable situations which cause them to play poorly. Any team that comes to Morgantown should be ready to play their best game of the year because if they don’t, the Mountaineers know how to take care of business.
The Mountaineers have also played in three neutral site games and are 3-0 in those matchups against Northern Iowa, Wichita State, and Ohio State. All quality opponents, but West Virginia was able to play smart and effective and come out on top in all three games. The first two games versus Northern Iowa and Wichita State were in Cancun, Mexico, so it was truly a neutral site game. But the game versus Ohio State took place in Cleveland and although Mountaineer fans made the trip, it was pretty much a home game for the at-the- time #2 Buckeyes. But West Virginia played well as the world was introduced to Miles McBride while he led the Mountaineers to a great team win.
That all being said, the Mountaineers must prefer their beds in their dorm rooms compared to hotel beds because West Virginia is 3-4 during true road games this season with losses to St. Johns, Kansas, Kansas State, and Texas Tech. However, the weird part is that the Mountaineers are averaging 66.86 points per game and allowing their opponents 65.9 points per game.
The stars of West Virginia’s per game averages on the road:
Oscar Tshiebwe – 12.57 points and 9.29 rebounds
Derek Culver – 9.86 points and 8.57 rebounds
Miles “Deuce” McBride – 8 points
Emmitt Matthews – 5.14 points
The biggest thing that jumps out is the Mountaineers aren't scoring enough on the road and aren't playing as well on the defensive side either.
But let’s take a deeper look at those road losses.
First was a 70-68 loss to St. Johns where West Virginia actually shot better than the Red Storm but turned the ball over 22 times compared to their 14. Free throws killed the Mountaineers as they shot only 5-12. So only losing by two on the road despite turning the ball over and not hitting free throws, isn’t a bad loss- frustrating, but not bad. It is definitely one that Bob Huggins wishes he could have back.
Second was a 60-53 loss to Kansas where West Virginia was leading at the half 30-24 but couldn’t finish as the Jayhawks outscored West Virginia 36-23 in the second half. The Mountaineers didn’t shoot well and finished at 32.2% and just 12-22 from the free throw line, for 54.5%. The reason for this loss is due to Kansas hitting more of their free throws than West Virginia and just a few less turnovers. Oh, and don’t blame the refs because Kansas actually committed one more foul than West Virginia did.
Third was an 84-68 loss to Kansas State and what truly was West Virginia’s only bad road loss this season. The Mountaineers didn’t shoot well from the free throw line again as they finished 12-22 (54.5%) and turned the ball over 18 times. West Virginia came out flat as the Wildcats jumped out to a 42-25 lead at halftime. The Mountaineers played a much better second half and outscored Kansas State, 43-42, but due to a poorly played first half, they just couldn’t climb back into the game. In this game, both the Mountaineers and Wildcats committed 24 fouls each, but Kansas State did get three more free throws and finished 17-25 (68%).
The most recent road loss was last night to Texas Tech with a final score of 89-81. For the first time of these Mountaineer road losses, free throws weren’t the problem for West Virginia as they shot an incredible 33-41, which is 80.5% compared to Texas Tech’s 28-32. The Mountaineers also only committed eleven turnovers compared to the Red Raider’s 22. The difference in this game was the three ball as West Virginia hit only four threes compared to Texas Tech’s eleven. Also, tempers were high as the Mountaineers committed two technical fouls which resulted in easy points for the Red Raiders.
West Virginia, with the exception of the Kansas State game, hasn’t played that terrible on the road and were in a position to win the game in the final few minutes. It is frustrating because of how well they play at home and fans want to see them perform the same way on the road. Luckily for the Mountaineers, after each road loss so far, they have bounced back the next game and played well. It seems like they are learning from their mistakes and growing as a team, which compared to seasons past is a complete 180. If West Virginia can find ways to score more efficiently on the road and force their opponents into more uncomfortable situations, look for this team to win more games away from the Coliseum.
The Mountaineers return home for the next two games and their next road matchup is on Saturday, February 8 at Oklahoma where West Virginia will look to improve their performance on the road.
You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page. Also be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter:
Facebook - @WVUonSI
Twitter - @SI_WVU and John Pentol at @John_Pentol_
