The West Virginia Mountaineers fell to 11-6 overall and 2-2 in Big 12 play on Tuesday night after suffering a 77-48 beating at the hands of the Houston Cougars in a road trip to the Lone Star State. Here are some quick takeaways from the distasteful loss.
Slows Starts Prove Costly For The Mountaineers
West Virginia could not have asked for a worse start to the game, scoring just five points in the first 15:30 of action. Yes, you read that right. For those who weren't watching, it's tough to describe just how dismal the offense looked. This feat was accomplished by going just 2-of-16 shooting to open the game. After 15 minutes of play, Houston led 28-5.
Now, the Mountaineers did end up losing by 29 points, but that means the Cougars outscored the Mountaineers by just six points in the final 25 minutes of the game. That serves as evidence that the Mountaineers can compete with a team like Houston for at least stretches of game, and that's a good sign. If you keep the beginning of the game that competitive, you're potentially looking at another ranked upset.
The Effort After The Tough Opening Is Encouraging
There are a lot of teams that would have packed it in during the first half in this situation. On the road in a raucous atmosphere against the No. 7 team in the country, down 23 points early and unable to buy a bucket. That's a demoralizing atmosphere. But the Mountaineers kept fighting and kept hustling, and trimmed the lead to 11 points at one point in the second half. Not to beat a dead horse, but maybe a smaller deficit would have been manageable for a comeback with that level of fight.
The Future Is Bright For DJ Thomas
The star of the night for the Mountaineers was DJ Thomas, who led the team with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-5 from three-point range. And while that's not even his career-best, it is the first time the young post player has done it against a level of competition like the Cougars.
This was also his best three-point shooting effort so far, and it's extremely promising to see a player of his size and length be able to consistently stretch the floor and be a threat from behind-the-arc, providing the type of threat that might remind West Virginia fans of the Kevin Pittsnogle era. It's hard to believe he is turning in such performances as not just a true freshman, but one originally committed to play at the mid-major level with North Texas before Ross Hodge earned a Power 5 opportunity and brought his signee with him.
Outmatched By A Better Opponent
In the end, one thing that was clear from whistle-to-whistle was that Houston was a better team. Yes, WVU was competitive after the slow start, but the Cougars did outscore them after the 28-5 start as well. WVU just isn't ready to compete with a team at the talent level and with the coaching experience in the Big 12 that Houston brings.
And not only would I say is Houston deserves their Top 10 ranking, but I say they may deserve the No. 1 ranking. Maybe my tune will change after watching the clash between current No. 1 Arizona and WVU that is rapidly approaching (because there aren't days off in the Big 12 in basketball). But it's hard to watch Houston play and view them as elite, and I don't think anyone is looking at the Mountaineers as elite.
Luckily, that same fact also means most of us were not expecting a West Virginia win on Tuesday. It was likely from the jump that it wouldn't be a competitive game, and if your projection for WVU and a potential postseason future changed after the Kansas win, this shouldn't affect that projection – because few people were looking at a path to the postseason that required a win against Houston as as feasible for this team.