West Virginia Basketball: Poor guard play leads to 0-5 start in Big 12

West Virginia Basketball competed for a Big 12 Regular Season title. Less than a year late, the Mountaineers are now the worst team in the league.

There are few teams who have performed under expectations more than West Virginia Basketball. The Mountaineers came into Tuesday night’s battle with an overall record of 8-8, while on a four game losing streak to start Big 12 play. Their last loss came at home to Oklahoma State, who was supposed to be the worst team in the league.

But after this most recent 98-67 loss to TCU, West Virginia solidifies themselves at the bottom of the conference totem pole. The game was never competitive after the first few minutes, with the Mountaineers trailing by as many as 30+ early in the second half. It was one of the worst efforts for the Mountaineers under head coach Bob Huggins and a clear sign that things won’t get much better the rest of the season.

The continuing absence of key big man Sagaba Konate has been a clear problem for the Mountaineers. But the reason for why the game got out of hand early for West Virginia was due to the bad play from the perimeter players once again.

Against the Horned Frogs, WVU’s offense was never in synch. The passes had no purpose, and the half court game was a mess. But the biggest crime was the 12 turnovers in the first half, more than the 10 made field goals. And the Horned Frogs made them pay for it every time the other way. That creates a disastrous domino effect, as the Mountaineers can’t set up their defense off a made bucket – as there were few shots going in.

James Bolden has shown himself to be a good offensive scorer, but his ability to facilitate and initiate the offense still isn’t at the level it needs to be. And after him, none of the other West Virginia guards would even get playing time on past teams.

Huggins seems to be trying anything he can to get a spark. Freshman guard Trey Doomes has burned his redshirt and will get minutes going forward, along with different rotations. But with Kansas coming up next, West Virginia is in danger of falling further in the Big 12 basement, with few signs of things getting better.