Mountaineers adjusting at guard without Daxter Miles
Daxter Miles made a name for himself in March of 2015. He gained national headlines for his declaration prior to West Virginia’s Sweet 16 game against Kentucky.
Miles, then a freshman, guaranteed a win over the then-undefeated Wildcats.
Of course, things didn’t turn out the right way for Miles or the Mountaineers as Kentucky rolled to a 78-39 win over WVU in Cleveland.
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As the Mountaineers look for a win over Texas in Austin, they will have to try without Miles in the starting lineup.
On Tuesday, it was announced that Miles will be out against the Longhorns due to a hamstring injury. Because of this, WVU will have to jumble its starting lineup before the game.
It is not the first time the Mountaineers have had to adjust their lineup this season. Of course, there was the suspension to Jonathan Holton, which thrust Nathan Adrian into the starting lineup.
Adrian has retained that position, even after Holton was reinstated before Saturday’s game against TCU. Also, Miles has already missed a game this season due to injury.
Miles was out for the Jan. 9 game against Oklahoma State, a 77-60 win by the Mountaineers which boosted them to 3-0 in Big 12 Conference play at that time.
In his place, Jaysean Paige earned the start for Miles. But that wasn’t exactly what the doctor ordered for the Mountaineers. Paige scored nine points in 24 minutes against the Cowboys. He was 2 for 10 from the field and 0 for 4 from 3-point range.
The whole performance was way down from his season average of a team-leading 14-point average, plus a .367-percent shooting average from behind-the-arc.
Paige is likely the best bet for the Mountaineers, now. But without Miles, WVU will have to showcase its depth at the guard position.
Teyvon Myers, who has played more recently, will likely see some more minutes off the bench. He has appeared in 22 games this season (an average of 8.5 minutes per game) and has scored 48 points in his first season with the Mountaineers.
Of course, Tarik Phillip and Jevon Carter will be counted on to handle the ball up top and make the offense run as smoothly as possible at the guard position, without the services of Miles.
Miles has walked and ran gingerly in the past few days and is listed as day-to-day. After the Texas game, the Mountaineers play host to Oklahoma on Saturday.