The No. 17 West Virginia Mountaineers didn't always look good getting it done, but by the end of Wednesday night, they did escape a road trip to Orlando with a 74-62 win, and in doing so, took one step close to securing a Top 3 finish in Big 12 action and a double-bye in the Big 12 Tournament next week.
The Mountaineers struggled with the Knights early, trailing at the halftime break before a dominant third quarter that saw them score 31 points in 10 minutes boosted them to a relatively secure victory. Following the game, head coach Mark Kellogg wasn't particularly satisfied with his team's performance.
"I didn't necessarily like this performance a whole lot," Kellogg said. "We needed a little bit better effort. Obviously we got the win and that was the most important thing...we'll take the win, and figure out out to get better from it."
But at the end of the game, he's correct that the win is the most important thing. With it, the Mountaineers move to 13-4 in league play with one game remaining. Currently, if they can win their final game against Cincinnati this weekend, they will lock in no worse than a third-place finish in regular season play. A win by TCU over Baylor this weekend will secure them a second-place finish.
This is important for seeding as te Big 12 Tournament approaches, as a Top 4 finish earns a double-bye in the conference tournament. That would mean West Virginia would just three wins to emerge the Big 12 Tournament Champion, and would be facing an opponent in the opening round that has already had 1-2 games played earlier in the week.
Of course, a loss to the Bearcats this Sunday could toss that all away, as it would drop them to fifth-place if paired with a Texas Tech win in the Red Raiders' final game of the season.