WVU's Youth is Starting to Make a Serious, Much-Needed Impact

WVU's young talent is growing up.

Things weren't going well early for the Mountaineers in Lubbock on Wednesday night. Six minutes into the game, West Virginia had turned it over five times and had taken only seven shots from the field. In an effort to put an end to the bleeding, head coach Bob Huggins yanked all five starters and inserted Joe Toussaint, Seth Wilson, Kobe Johnson, Josiah Harris, and James Okonkwo.

"I was trying to get our guys to throw it to our team," said Huggins. "They were extremely charitable early on. I got those guys out and have them rethink it a little bit. And our younger guys have been really good in practice. So if we're going to throw it to the other team, we might as well play young guys and try to help them."

West Virginia had two points at the time of the hockey-style line change which came via an Emmitt Matthews layup at the 15:44 mark. Yes, WVU was held scoreless for nearly the first five minutes of the game.

The young guys and Joe Toussaint ushered a comeback and gave the Mountaineers a 33-28 lead going into the half. To start the second half, Huggins went with the same group that started the game, and once again, turnovers came in bunches. Huggins began mixing and matching his lineups and found something with Seth Wilson and James Okonkwo. 

Wilson notched a career-high 15 points, shooting 5/11 from three-point land. He's shown flashes of his ability during conference play but he really put it on display when the Mountaineers need him to most.

"Seth continues to get better and better. I think our two freshmen continue to get better and better. It's a learning process. You're playing in the hardest league in the country. To transfer in here from anywhere is a huge step up."

Okonkwo only scored five points but his work on the glass and on the defensive end played large. He grabbed ten rebounds and had the block of the year by going up and snatching the ball on a layin attempt at the rim using both of his hands. Very Sagaba Konate-esque.

"James has been getting better and better," Huggins said. "He made some huge plays for us. Mo [Wague] is getting better and better. They're two guys that haven't played very much. James was a tennis player. He got too big for tennis. This is Mo's second year in basketball, so they've got a lot to learn. They're eager to learn. Jimmy [Bell Jr.] didn't have one of Jimmy's better games, so it gave them an opportunity to play more."

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