The West Virginia Mountaineers climbed solidly onto the bubble for NCAA Tournament contention for the first time this season after knocking off UCF on the road last weekend, but now, pretty much any NCAA Tournament hopes for the Mountaineers have disappeared in a heartbreaking home loss to the Utah Utes on Wednesday night.
The Mountaineers dropped their third straight home game after getting off to yet another slow start, trailing 15-3 at the media timeout. The consistent rough first halves for the Mountaineers came back to haunt them, as after two 14-point comeback wins over the past two weeks, West Virginia was unable to pull it off again. And despite outscoring Utah by five points in the second half, they fell 61-56.
"The start. That's on me. I thin a coach has a couple primary responsibilities, and one of those in making sure the team is ready to play. And for some reason, we weren't," Hodge said after the loss. "You run the risk of this happening when you continuously dig yourself holes."
Why the loss signifcantly dampens West Virginia's NCAA Tournament hopes
WVU still has opportunities against bubble teams and tournament teams alike to close the season, with four games against teams that fit that category, as well as their shot at the Big 12 Tournament. But that could all mean very little now. We've talked before about how crucial his homestretch of the season is, and none were more crucial to not lose than Wednesday's game.
Utah was 9-16 overall and just 1-11 in Big 12 play, marking them as a Quad 3 opponent by NET rankings. For a team on the bubble such as WVU is, with four non-conference Power 4 losses and no true signature win outside of Kansas on their resume, a Quad 3 loss at home is pretty much a March Madness killer.
The tournament's selection committee will not look favorably upon the this loss, and it would likely take a 5-0 stretch to close the season and an impressive Big 12 Tournament showing to prove they belong as an at-large bid.
In a way, WVU fans can breathe a bit easier, as their NCAA Tournament hopes will likely rest on their trip to Kansas City for conference tournament action in March. But most like, WVU fans should plan on any postseason play coming in the less prestigious NIT or College Basketball Crown tournaments.