Big 12 Basketball: Power Rankings in the home stretch
3. West Virginia Mountaineers, 20-5, 9-3 Big 12
Continuing the trend of “Big 12 teams that got a player back from suspension,” the Mountaineers got Jonathan Holton back from his four game suspension on Saturday. He scored 14 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, and racked up 5 assists off the bench in a win over TCU.
They somehow managed to survive their toughest stretch in conference play (@ISU, vs. Baylor, @KU) 2-1 without Holton. However, his absence in their pressure defense was felt. They forced under 14 turnovers per game (13.75), yet on the season they force over 19 per game. And in Holton’s first game back on Saturday, the Mountaineers forced TCU into committing 26 turnovers.
With all that being said, West Virginia still has the toughest remaining schedule between them, Oklahoma, and Kansas, the three teams still vying for the Big 12 title. They still have a game against Oklahoma and Iowa State, and need to go on the road to face both Baylor and Texas. It’s hard not to imagine a scenario where they don’t lose at least two more games.
However, they’ve surprised us before. They battled back from a massive first half deficit to win in Ames, and that was without Holton. They play a brand of basketball where almost anything is possible at any time. Maybe they’ll make a real run at this title now that Holton is back.
Next: Number 2