West Virginia men's basketball couldn't have put forth a much more valiant effort than was given during their road trip to No. 10 Houston on Wednesday.
The Cougars typically hold opponents to 34% shooting overall and 29% shooting from three-point range -- yet the Mountaineers averaged 46% shooting from the field and 45% shooting from behind-the-arc. WVU held the lead at multiple different points in the first half, and with 12:36 remaining to play in the game, the Mountaineers had cut Houston's lead to just three points.
"I really thought the way the game played out we did a lot of really good things at times," WVU Head Coach Darian DeVries told the Mountaineers Sports Network after the game.
But once the dust settled, the Cougars walked off their home court at the Fertitta Center with a dominant 70-54 victory that was nowhere near competitive by the final minutes. Let's talk about what Houston (13-3, 5-0) did to walk away with a comfortable win in Big 12 play over WVU (12-4, 3-2).
Taking Advantage of Turnovers
West Virginia turned the ball over just 12 times against Houston -- not a ton more than Houston's 7 turnovers on the evening.
But how Houston took advantage of those turnovers was a difference maker. Houston converted 25 points off those 12 WVU turnovers, while the Mountaineers scored just 9 points of their 7 takeaways. WVU lost by 16 points -- they were also outscored on points off turnovers by 16 points. It is hard to look at that statistic without seeing how it played an impact in the game.
"We knew going into it that turnovers were going to be a huge thing, and we only had 12 turnovers...but it seemed like all of them resulted in points," DeVries said.
The Hot Hand Often Wins
Houston finished shooting 49% from the field and 42% from deep-range, which isn't necessarily that far ahead of WVU's shooting performance. But the devil is in the details -- Houston turned a tight game early into an 40-27 lead at the halftime break that dug a hole which the Mountaineers couldn't escape.
That was due to Houston's abnormal shooting effort in the first half. The Cougars shot 61% overall and 54% from three-point range in the first 20 minutes of play -- J'Wan Roberts and Emanuel Sharp combined for 12-of-16 shooting from the field and combined for 29 points during the first half.
Homecourt Advantage
Houston is 102-6 in the Fertitta Center since it re-opened following renovations prior to the 2018-2019 season. It's difficult to win at Houston short of playing a perfect game, which the Mountaineers were unable to do. However, WVU will hopefully flip the script when they host Houston in two weeks at the WVU Coliseum, also known as one of the toughest environments in college basketball.