The West Virginia Mountaineers have done it again. And if you've been following this team during the season, you might know exactly what "it" is.
Yes, that's right – WVU once again had the lead against a beatable opponent before a long cold streak on the offensive end of the floor precipitated a comeback and an eventual loss for the Mountaineers. This time, they led at halftime against a Kansas State team that fired it's coach mid-season and entered the game on Tuesday with just 11 wins, only two of which came against Big 12 opponents. But by the end of the night, they fell in a 65-63 defeat.
So what does this loss tell us about the WVU basketball?
Ross Hodge and the West Virginia Mountaineers are not real NCAA Tournament contenders
Well, what Tuesday's loss proved is a truth that WVU fans probably should have accepted much earlier, but hope is a strong thing. But the Mountaineers aren't a real NCAA Tournament contender this year.
Last year, the Mountaineers were carried to massive resume-building wins in non-conference play by Tucker DeVries, who would later miss all of Big 12 play. And often, the Mountaineers were saved in league play by a current NBA starter in Javon Small. They don't have a weapon like either of those this year.
This year, the Mountaineers don't have the same firepower and don't have the same big wins. And that creates situations like the loss to Kansas State, where WVU has a lead, but then allows a 21-0 Kansas State run in the second half while going over eight minutes without scoring. It should probably go without saying, but NCAA Tournament teams don't typically give up 21 point runs and go scoreless for nearly 25% of a game.
And while Tuesday's loss like likely finally eliminate West Virginia from March Madness contention, the performance by the Mountaineers against the Wildcats was not a one-off performance. Offensive droughts have been a problem all season, sometimes causing fatally slow starts while other times giving up massive comebacks.
So if you take anything from Tuesday's loss, understand that this team probably just isn't what we want them to be, and that's the team that breaks an NCAA Tournament drought for a prograused to playing in the Big Dance.
That doesn't mean they're a bad team. They're far from being bad, and they've honestly overperformed expectations with many. They've mostly measured up record wise to last season's team with arguably a lot less talent. But if you're still holding out hope this is a team that makes the NCAA Tournament, you can probably give that up now.