Wednesday night's showdown against Utah started out like just about every other Big 12 game in recent memory has for the West Virginia Mountaineers. Their opponent got off to a quick, hot-handed start, and WVU looked as if they couldn't buy a basket. And before long, West Virginia was trailing 15-3 at the first media timeout, and had to spend the rest of the night playing catch-up.
But in a bit of a different experience from two similar starts over the past couple of weeks against Cincinnati and UCF, the Mountaineers couldn't overcome what eventually became a double-digit second half deficit. Their luck on such rallies ran out against the Utes, and WVU dropped a must-win game for their NCAA Tournament hopes.
But there are still games left to play, with five left on the regular season slate before the Big 12 Tournment begins. And after conference tournament action, a trip to the NIT or College Basketball Crown could await. But if WVU wants to find sustained sucesss on that final run, they need an answer to their slow starts. Unforuntely, it doesn't seem as if head coach Ross Hodge has found one yet.
"Yeah, I mean, we’ve considered it. We’ve considered it all, in particular at home," Hodge said. "I’ve never been a guy that’s went and stayed in hotels at home games, but a lot of people do that just to kind of keep the feel and the routine consistent."
"Starting lineups, you evaluate it. We’ve evaluated where we go with the ball early. Who gets the ball early? What type of shots are you getting early? All of it. Sub a little faster, and there’s been some stretches where we’ve let them (the starters) go a little longer. We’ve evaluated it all, and we’ll continue to evaluate it all."
Hodge did take accountability for the issue after the Utah loss, admitting that "you're either coaching or allowing it." But that might not be enough at this point of the season, and Hodge will need to continue to look for answers to his team's first half blues.