After a dropping their second- straight game 70-66 to Oklahoma State on Saturday, West Virginia men’s basketball interim Josh Eilert spoke of what he saw leading to a Mountaineer loss.
“We couldn’t convert down the stretch,” Eilert said.
WVU only made one field goal in the last five minutes, while the Cowboys scored 15 points in that stretch.
“We shot it well, for the most part, 42% from the field (compared to) their 40 (%). But the key ingredient to all these things is rebounding and we lack there once again, we’re minus five,” Eilert said.
West Virginia was out-rebounded 34-29 in the game, 20-16 in the second half.
“They got to the line a lot. I mean, they [went] 20 for 26 (from the line) and we only got to the line twelve times. And the fouls were a little upside down,” Eilert said.
Oklahoma State’s Brandon Garrison shot 8-10 from the charity stripe alone, after coming into the game only making 59% of his free throws.
“It’s a tough one to lose. It’s a really tough one. A tough pill to swallow considering we battled down the stretch. They just made winning plays and there’s a couple of difference-makers and calls there down the stretch,” Eilert said.
In the loss, WVU guard RaeQuan Battle struggled, only scoring two points, shooting 1-6 from the field coming off a game where he only scored five points before getting ejected.
“I need him to be more efficient for us and make better decisions,” Eilert said of Battle.
