The West Virginia Mountaineers went into a Wednesday night non-conference match-up with Coppin State at the Hope Coliseum looking to work out some kinks before a marquee neutral-site Power 5 clash with Wake Forest this coming Saturday – and while the Mountaineers knocked off Coppin State 91-49 for a fairly dominant win, there were some reasons for concern in a sloppy effort from WVU basketball. Here our some concerning takeaways from the win against the Eagles.
Slow Starts Need To Be Fixed
The Mountaineers did not have a great start on Wednesday, giving fans some reason to feel anxious early as they allowed Coppin State to take a 9-2 lead that forced an early West Virginia timeout just over 3:30 into the game, and the Mountaineers still trailed 11-10 over six minutes into the action. Sure, things ended extremely well, as the Mountaineers ended up having their way with the Eagles, but it such a start could be fatal against a Power 5 opponent. There is already an example of this in the team's loss to Xavier this year, and it could cause problems in conference play.
Foul Shooting Is Going To Get This Team Into Trouble
The Mountaineers had an atrocious night at the free throw line, as they went just 20-of-33 from the charity stripe. It's not the first time this season the Mountaineers, as they entered the game shooting just 68.9% from the free throw line, but it continues to be a recurring issue as the season stretches on. It wasn't a huge deal against a lesser-talented Coppin State team, but WVU play-by-play announcer Tony Caridi said it best during Wednesday night's game: "that will get you beat in the Big 12."
Inefficient Three-Point Shooting
You could pinpoint this as nitpicking, considering that the Mountaineers did convert 11 three-pointers against the Eagles. But they also took 34 shots from behind-the-arc just to get those nine buckets, which is good for just a 32 percent from three-point field goal percentage. Honor Huff converted five of those three-pointers, but took 14 shots from deep-range. No one is expecting a team to shoot 50% from that range, but that type of inefficiency won't cut it.