The West Virginia Mountaineers saw their hopes at returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2022-2023 season take a significant hit on Saturday as they dropped their first home game of the season to the Baylor Bears.
Exactly what it means in the long term for WVU basketball this season is still left to be seen, as there is still basketball to play and the season is by no means over. But what it did reveal is something that may have been easy for some to forget in the aftermath of a 5-3 start in conference play – and that is that the Mountaineers still are prone to suffer from long offensive slumps where they cannot make shots, and it's something that could cost the program dearly down the final stretch of the season.
The Mountaineers had several stretches of more than three minutes without scoring a field goal during the loss, including one stretch of over seven minutes without scoring a single point in the second half from the 11:29 mark to the 4:03 mark. The Mountaineers finished the night shooting 18-of-50 (36%) from the field and 5-of-19 (26.3 %) from three-point range.
Ross Hodge talks shooting sturggles for West Virginia Mountaineers
Following the game, when asked about the cause of his team's offensive woes, WVU head coach Ross Hodge blamed it partially on bad luck for his players, and partially on bad playcalling on his end.
"Combination of both. Have to really watch the film to really get the most honest assessment," Hodge said.
"I thought every player that attempted a shot, at some point, had a very good look...there were a handful of possessions where we got exactly what we wanted and it just didn't go down. Then, there are another nine or ten possessions where you feel as a coach you didn't give your team the best chance."
And fr one player in particular – leading scorer Honor Huff – Hodge also gave credit to the Baylor defense, which he felt like did a good job at limiting Huff's open scoring opportunities. That's something more teams seem to be figuring out as the season goes on.
"Out of the nine threes Honor took, I would say four or five are really good looks for him. People have been making it hard on him," Hodge said.