The West Virginia Mountaineers will be kicking themselves for a long time over Saturday's game against the TCU Horned Frogs.
After a loss to a middling Utah team earlier in the week, which did significant damage to the program's NCAA Tournament hopes, the Mountaineers were still in the Bracketology discussion entering the weekend – albeit with plenty of work to be done.
The Mountaineers managed to avoid the slow starts that have proved fatal so often in Big 12 action, and outshot the Horned Frogs 41% from the field to 34% from the field, holding TCU to just 12 two-point baskets. They were in the driver's seat late, holding a 49-43 lead with just over eight minutes to play. But then, an old problem the Mountaineers had evaded for months arose once more.
Second-half struggles rear their ugly head for West Virginia Mountaineers
WVU basketball dropped non-conference games to Ohio State and Clemson after holding double-digit leads, and the Mountaineers once again saw an inability to close a game, rather than open, become a problem.
The Mountaineers allowed a 12-2 TCU run in the final 4:17 of action, and would go just 2-of-10 from the field and commit four turnovers in the final eight minutes of play to give away the game to the Horned Frogs. The Mountaineers also struggled all night on the boards, giving up 19 offensive rebounds and getting outdone 39-28 overall in the rebounding battle.
"I didn't think either team played very well for most of the night," WVU head coach Ross Hodge said. "They were able to impose their will on us for the course of the full 40 minutes...and specifically down the stretch, they did a better job at executing late in the game."
Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, they just can't seem to put together a full game, as the team has now struggled several times this season in different ways to put together 40 minutes of consistent play. That will end up being the story of the season when talking about this team and why they didn't achieve at a higher level – because if the loss to the Utes didn't end the team's NCAA Tournament hopes, this blown opportunity against TCU almost certainly will.