WVU basketball: The time for a turnaround is now
The WVU basketball team is down but it certainly is not out. There is a lot of time left to make this campaign special and it starts this weekend against Texas.
The Mountaineers actually have two Texas-based opponents coming up, first the Longhorns are coming to Morgantown on Saturday. Then, the WVU basketball team heads to TCU on Tuesday. These are the last two Big 12 match ups before the Mountaineers have a huge meeting with Kentucky in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
In order to get some momentum back, the WVU basketball team needs to win these two upcoming games. The Mountaineers have dropped two consecutive games to top 10 teams, losing to Texas Tech and Kansas by a combined six points.
In both recent losses, though, the WVU basketball team has led by double digits at one point. The two losses can be blamed solely on the offensive struggling to put together sustainable runs in the second half. Also in these two losses, Esa Ahmad has been back in the rotation.
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Now, it’s not like Ahmad’s return has sent bad shockwaves through the West Virginia program. He has still been with the team and practiced with them each day. He hasn’t showed any problems adjusting to the game speed and his scoring stroke is right where he should be as the second-leading scorer on the team in both games.
But Ahmad’s return has meant diminished playing time for emerging star Teddy Allen. Well, it’s been Ahmad’s return, plus some of his own poor attitude being thrown in the mix. According to EErSports, head coach Bob Huggins says with Allen, the Mountaineers weren’t heading down the right path. Allen has sat the bench in the past two games, showing that Huggins may value sending a message more than winning a game.
Hopefully, that means Allen has heard and received the message sent by Huggins, a future Hall of Famer. With Allen’s head back in the game, the WVU basketball team should have no trouble beating both Texas and TCU.
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The defense will do enough to win, but the offense paced by Ahmad, Allen, Jevon Carter and even Sagaba Konate will be key to getting these conference victories.