West Virginia looks to bounce back from a poor effort on Saturday against Kansas State. West Virginia will have their second Big 12 game of the season against the Cowboys, and they hope to avoid falling in an 0-2 hole in conference play.
Besides the obvious 18 missed free throws and 20 turnovers the Mountaineers committed, West Virginia will have to improve in other ways from their Kansas State game to try and head back to Morgantown at 1-1 in Big 12 play.
Stevenson needs to be smart
Erik Stevenson having an off night from the field was not the only issue for him. Stevenson was in foul trouble and picked up a technical foul after a personal foul just 25 seconds into the second half. West Virginia has played through Stevenson offensively and as Stevenson goes, West Virginia goes. The Mountaineers need an improved effort from the fifth-year senior and need him to not try to overcorrect on the defensive end and pickup fouls.
Defense creating turnovers
West Virginia played 45 minutes of basketball against Kansas State and the Wildcats only committed 11 turnovers. It would be one thing if the Mountaineers didn’t turn it over 20 times themselves, but West Virginia’s defense needs to force more turnovers on Monday against Oklahoma State. The Cowboys turned the ball over 13 times on the road against Kansas on Saturday and the Mountaineers who are forcing 16.4 turnovers per game must be better Monday and heading forward in Big 12 play.
Bell has to be big
Jimmy Bell has to be better. Bell played 17 minutes, had three rebounds and eight points. Bell missed six free throws and had three turnovers as well. Bell seemed to have a coming out party towards the end of non-conference play but Bell was mostly invisible after multiple wide-open dunks to start the game.
