Winning on the road in the Big 12 is hard to begin with. Winning on the road when your most talented player gets ejected from the game, you blow and eight-point halftime lead, and you turn to three bench guys to close the game out seems unfathomable but that is exactly what West Virginia did on Monday night in their 72-69 win over Iowa State.
Bob Huggins shows why he’s in the Hall of Fame
Not many coaches can survive having your most talented player — who scored zero points — get ejected on the road when you are trailing by six. Not many coaches can survive blowing an eight-point halftime lead on the road in the Hilton Coliseum. But West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins did both of those things.
Not only was Huggins able to keep and maintain focus of his team through the whole mess, but they went into it trailing by six and four seconds of game time after the elbow to the mouth from Mitchell occurred, West Virginia escaped it trailing by just one.
Add in the fact that Huggins went with a lineup consisting of Kedrian Johnson, Joe Toussaint, Seth Wilson, Kobe Johnson, and Emmitt Matthews, with the 6-foot-3 Johnson playing the four position, and the 6-foot-7 Matthews playing the five position speaks volumes the the belief Huggins has in his team and the ability for him to dictate the game. That lineup went on a 9-0 run over the closing minutes, ending the game on a 12-5 run to secure the three-point victory.
Emmitt Matthews, this was your moment
Emmitt Matthews came back to West Virginia because he loves the school and he wanted to win. Matthews’ talents were on full display Monday, getting two huge blocks late, while also cutting in for a huge dunk, and making clutch free throws. Matthews has struggled at times this year — especially after dealing with the knee injury early in Big 12 play — but the super-senior’s 13 points, four rebounds, two blocks, and a steal, while also turning the ball over one time was a big difference in the win for West Virginia.
Impact of James Okonkwo Injury
With 14:02 to play in the first half, WVU forward James Okonkwo exited with what would be a right ankle sprain. Okonkwo who was already seeing increased minutes due to Mohamed Wague’s injury, was unable to return to the game. Jimmy Bell ended up playing 21 minutes, while Pat Suemnick played 10. The Mountaineers also went small multiple times, helping them continue to stay in the game.
West Virginia plays a cat and mouse game of who is going to adjust to who when they go with a smaller lineup and it helps them run a lot better offense. Okonkwo needs to get healthy by Big 12 Tournament time as he adds an element of being more athletic, and being able to make more shots than Bell does. Bell ended with five rebounds, but two of them were offensive rebounds. Bell didn’t make a mark in the scoring column, but he certainly was valuable at times.
Joe Toussaint proved how tough he is
Joe Toussaint dribbled the ball out and not in a good way against Kansas on Saturday on WVU’s last possession. On Monday he redeemed himself and proved how tough of a competitor he is. Toussaint scored 11 points, in the first half, making all four of his shots from the field. He would finish with 19 points, going a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line. He added seven boards and three assists as well.
Photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports
