WVU basketball is back, though no familiar faces are.
West Virginia’s regular season opener is on the horizon, tipping off on Tuesday against Mount Saint Mary’s. However, the Mountaineers will not be strangers to the newly named Hope Coliseum, where they played their annual exhibition game on Sunday.
The game, ending in an 80-54 WVU win over Wheeling, served as a teaching moment for head coach Ross Hodge and his fellow newcomers, as well as the fans. These five takeaways outline what to know and what to expect entering this new age of WVU Basketball.
1: Defense is the Best (and Only?) Offense
Since his introductory press conference in April, Hodge has made it no secret that his coaching style is rooted in defense. The Mountaineers leaned into this identity in their exhibition game, playing tight perimeter defense and pushing the game out of the paint.
All in all, Hodge’s scheme succeeded, resulting in 16 Wheeling turnovers and 33.3 percent shooting from the field. That said, the plan of outlasting the opponents in the scoring column is one that may need adjusted in the regular season, as against Wheeling, the Mountaineers allowed 13 turnovers of their own, shooting 50.9 percent from the field and 30 percent from three.
2: If Size is an Advantage, it Will be Used
The two-man action of 7-foot Harlan Obioha and 6-foot-9 Brenen Lorient was on full display in the exhibition, with Obioha going for 19 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and a steal in 19 minutes while Lorient tallied 14 points, three rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and a steal.
On the floor, the duo’s play looked like bounce passes in the paint, awareness of the floor, and easy scoring off the glass, which is ultimately not surprising considering no Wheeling player stood above 6-foot-8. All things considered, the Mountaineers are not particularly dominant in size, so the opportunity to use a size advantage may be slim, but in this case, Hodge had no qualms about using what his Mountaineers haS
3: Shooters Shoot.
While an exhibition game is no time to go all out and risk injury, having only three players, including two starters, shoot three-point attempts could be a preview for Hodge’s offensive intentions from the perimeter.
Treysen Eaglestaff, Honor Huff, and Jayden Forsythe combined for 18 three-point attempts and six makes. None of those three attempted a shot from inside the arc. Huff, who ranked fourth in the NCAA last season in three-point makes, made two of his seven attempts in 29 minutes. Eaglestaff, who scored the NCAA’s most points in a single game last season with 51, made one in just as many attempts in 23 minutes and was blocked on his first attempt of the game.
Forsythe, a freshman, shined off the bench, making three of his four attempts in nine minutes of play.
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