Three ways WVU can save their season

With another week, comes another AP poll ranking as the Mountaineers find themselves outside the top 25 after falling to Texas and Oklahoma last week. 

The Mountaineers season has been nothing but disappointing since February has rolled around, but Bob Huggins may have it in him to rally his troops on a deep playoff run through the Big 12 and NCAA tournament.

West Virginia stands at 1-6 through their last seven matchups which began with their loss against Oklahoma on Feb. 8. Since that game, the Mountaineers have also fallen to No. 3 Kansas, No. 1 Baylor, TCU, Texas and Oklahoma.

Despite stumbling in the second half of the season, there are three different ways I see the Mountaineers turning their season around with March upon us.

Find consistency shooting on the floor

Through the past seven games, the Mountaineers have shot a 37% mark from the field which is down from the team’s season field goal percentage of 41%.

What’s even worse is West Virginia’s 23% shooting mark from beyond the three-point arc through those seven games as opposed to the season three-point percentage of 28%.

Possibly one of the biggest concerns for West Virginia when it comes to shooting the basketball is their lack of players who consistently score in double digits. Through 29 games this season, the only Mountaineers who are averaging double digits per game are Oscar Tshiebwe who has averaged 11.1 points per game as well as Derek Culver who has netted 10.3 points per game.

There have been a number of players on this team that might not have met preseason expecations this season.

Emmitt Matthews who was supposed to be one of the centerpieces of this offense has only averaged 6.1 points per game while starting point guard Jordan McCabe is only netting 3.2 points and 1.7 assists per game.

West Virginia has seen a variety of different players breakout throughout the season but unable to stay consistent on the offensive end of the floor. One of those players is Taz Sherman who scored 11 points at Texas Tech on Jan. 29 and followed that up by dropping 20 against Baylor on Feb. 15.

Sherman, who came from Collin College in McKinney, Texas wasn’t supposed to be a leading scorer for the Mountaineers this year but the lack of consistency in the starting lineup gave him an opportunity for more playing time.

Force Turnovers

The Mountaineers don’t always force other teams to turn the rock over, but when they do they like to score points. So far this season, West Virginia has registered 16.3 points per game off turnovers as opposed to opponents 14.1 points averaged off turnovers.

Through the last seven games, the Mountaineers have turned the ball over an average of 15 times per game and a season average of 15 turnovers per game. Forcing turnovers fits very well with any kind of Bob Huggins led team following “Press Virginia.”

To go along with forcing other teams to turn the ball over, West Virginia also commits an average of 7.7 steals per game while adding 222 total steals to their resume this season. The ability to have gritty players who are willing to work for the ball and force these types of turnovers is crucial.

The Mountaineers also average 3.6 blocks per game and have totaled 103 this season as opposed to opponents 3.3 blocks per game and 96 total blocks on the year.

Jermaine Haley has led West Virginia in steals this season with 34 which is followed by Gabe Osabuohien and Miles McBride’s 30 steals on the year.

Make free throws

West Virginia has historically been an iffy team when it comes to the free throw line. This season, the Mountaineers have shot 63.4% at the charity stripe, a mark much lower than their opponents 71.6%.

Through the past seven games, West Virginia has shot a combined 59% from the line including a 10-21 performance against Texas last week. 

It may be a matter of getting the right players to the line for West Virginia as McBride has averaged a 72.2% at the free throw line this year on 57 made free throws of 79 attempts. Sean McNeil has also impressed from the line this season hitting 77.4% of his shots.

If the Mountaineer shooters can get the ball to the right players when they head to the charity stripe, they may have a shot at producing above average results throughout the remainder of the season and into tournament play. Culver has only hit 53% of his free throws on the year while Osabuohien has knocked down 54.3% of his free throws for the team’s worst pair of free throw shooters.