West Virginia will look to its newfound depth Saturday, as No. 3 Houston boasts tough senior guards, sharpshooter L.J. Cryer and defenseman Jamal Shead.
This means relying heavily on the Mountaineers’ two main advantages in the guard department, scoring and size. With the recent returns of RaeQuan Battle, Noah Farrakhan, and Kerr Kriisa, West Virginia will attempt to play to their advantages.
At the surface, Battle is an inherent threat, averaging 27.3 points per game before even finding his three-point rhythm. With his 6’5″, 195-pound frame, Battle is the perfect player to disrupt Houston’s airtight defense.
Shead, the Houston senior is one of the best on-ball defensive guards in college basketball, averaging two-and-a-half steals per game one year after earning the AAC Defensive Player of the Year award. Standing at 6’1″, Shead should have a tough time holding Battle in quick spurts, if not the entire game.
The guard-heavy Cougars lack the size and skill necessary to comfortably match up against the back-to-back Big 12 Player of the Week, meaning this unfavorable matchup may be one Shead has to stick with on Saturday. Houston relies on forcing turnovers, and if Shead cannot push Battle over his season-high of two, the Cougars may have trouble containing him and stalling the Mountaineer offense.
The defensive Cougars have more to account for than just Battle, though. Farrakhan and Kriisa each averaged double-digits in their first four games, keeping Cryer and Emanuel Sharp busy defensively, too.
With the NCAA’s top guard defense fully occupied, the Cougars will have to rely on their stars’ scoring, which the Mountaineers could have an answer for.
Cryer, who averages the fifth most points per game in the Big 12 (16.9), will not have a shorter guard matched up on him Saturday. Battle, who tallied three steals against Ohio State and four against Toledo, may again be the best opposing force.
Battle’s size could easily disrupt Cryer’s 39.6% three-point shooting as well if that is the matchup West Virginia chooses. With Battle accounting for all three Mountaineer steals against the Buckeyes, his greatest contribution could be forcing Cryer above his season average of .7 turnovers per game.
These skills may be best utilized elsewhere, however, particularly in defending Sharp, who is a taller but less experinced Houston sharpshooter, or Shead, who averages the fourth most assists in the Big 12.
Even if Battle were to guard Shead or Sharp, though, Farrakhan is the only WVU player standing at the same height as Cryer. If his shooting can be disrupted, that is enough offensive firepower taken away from Houston to give the Mountaineers an advantage.
No matter what, Houston’s success relies on its defense, as the Cougars place just 11th in the Big 12 offensively. If WVU’s new offensive firepower diminishes that threat, things will get very interesting in Texas on Saturday.
Photo by Wesley Shoemaker, Blue Gold Sports
