West Virginia Basketball: 3 takeaways in loss against Gonzaga in Jimmy V Classic

2. The paint will be where West Virginia earns most of their wins

The Mountaineers backcourt isn’t the greatest in the Big-12, but it’s definitely serviceable. McBride averaged right around his season averages from last season, and while Sean McNeil didn’t have his best game (1-9 from the field), they should fare far better in upcoming match-ups that aren’t Gonzaga. That being said, Culver, Matthews Jr., and Tshiebwe are going to be the key to the Mountaineers’ success this season.

Culver and Tshiebwe were two of West Virginia’s two top scorers last season, and to no surprise, they both put up the two highest marks in the point column Wednesday night. While the scoring is great, the rebounding is what is going to separate them from so many other teams in the league this season. The trio brought down 28 of the team’s 41 rebounds tonight, and that’s how it will have to go this season in order for the Mountaineers to stand out.

West Virginia is going to be running into an absolute buzz saw this season in the Big-12 down low. Almost every team in the conference at least has one notable rim protector who can fight for the team down low, and in order for West Virginia to make some noise in the conference, they’re going to need to have these three men bring down 70% of the rebounds each and every game.

The luxury that Huggins has this season, is that he has options to go to outside of these three. While Matthews Jr. will produce more than he did tonight, guys like Gabe Osabuohien can also play the three and four and give West Virginia an ample opportunity to score and outrebound other teams.

Osabuohien, a 6’7″ forward from Canada saw a decent amount of playing time tonight, while making the most of it, scoring ten points on 3-3 shooting from the field, while also pulling down three boards. He as well fouled out, but he proved himself to be just another number for Huggins to call on this year when he needs a lift down low.