West Virginia trailed 10-2 early and looked to be headed to the bottom of the Big 12 standings. Sure enough, the Mountaineers turned it around, using 50 bench points and big defensive plays to help secure the 15-point victory over Texas Tech on Wednesday.
Seth Wilson, Welcome
Welcome to the party Seth Wilson. The true sophomore has officially found his role and earned playing time on this team. Wilson was the streaky shooter before, but has somewhat turned into a three-point specialist for head coach Bob Huggins. Wilson scored 15 points against the Red Raiders, going 5 for 12 from the field, with 11 of those field goal attempts coming. from beyond the arc. On the season, Wilson leads WVU in three-point shooting, making 42.1 percent of his attempts. Wilson played 19 minutes against Tech, including seeing time with fellow two-guard Erik Stevenson. Wilson made half of WVU’s three-point shots, and Wilson’s five three-pointers were as many or more than the number of three’s WVU has made in four conference games this season. Wilson must continue to see the floor for WVU going forward.
Okonkwo has turned the corner
It is not too long ago where it seemed there was a significant drop off between Jimmy Bell/Mohamed Wague to James Okonkwo at the five position. One of West Virginia’s weaknesses was at the five spot, but Okonkwo has begun to fill in nicely. Okonkwo did it on offense and on defense, and is adding a level of rim protection not seen from WVU bigs in recent years. Okonkwo finished with five points, 10 rebounds, and two blocks. He has now played at least 14 minutes in three of the last five games for WVU, and his coming into his own on offense and defense. On nights when Bell struggles or him and Wague are in foul trouble, Okonkwo is proving he is more than capable of stepping in.
Is Emmitt alright?
Ever since getting injured in mid-December, Emmitt Matthews has not been the same player. Matthews missed two games, and then only played 11 minutes on Wednesday. Matthews’ knee has to still be bothering him as he is not the same player he was prior to the injury. In the last two games, Matthews has a combined six points, and six rebounds, in a combined 42 minutes of play. That is not the desired outcome from your fifth-year starter. The three position is tricky for WVU, with Kobe Johnson being a smaller three, and Josiah Harris being young and inexperienced. Interesting to see how Matthews’ minutes are handled going forward and if he can get out of this slump.
Message sent, was it received?
At the 14:51 mark of the first half, Huggins sent a message to his starters by taking them all out. Yes, we are hitting the grind of the season, but the bench guys played a huge role, none bigger than Joe Toussaint. Toussaint scored a career-high 22 points, and had a +/- of 20. Kobe Johnson also came in with this group of subs, and finished the game +10. The combined +/- of the starting five was -8, while the six guys on the bench had a combined +/- of 83. Average that out over the six bench players and the subs for WVU had a +13.8-point impact, compared to the starters who had a -1.6-point impact. Plus/minus never tells the true story, but the bench playing that well, has to send a message to the starters and put some pressure on them moving forward.
West Virginia’s starters had a combined 13 of WVU’s 19 turnovers. WVU’s defense was able to force 13 turnovers, including three steals from Toussaint, a steal from Okonkwo, and a combined 21 rebounds from the bench.
Photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports
