There’s an overused basketball cliché about having more turnovers than a bakery … but sometimes clichés are appropriate.

That was the case Saturday night in the WVU Coliseum when the Mountaineers’ 20 turnovers contributed a great deal in their 69-61 loss to seventh-ranked Texas.

“You can’t turn the ball over 20 times,” stated a dejected West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins, as his club fell to 11-8 overall and 1-6 in the Big 12 Conference. “We talked about that earlier in the year and said we were going to fix it. We had it down to where we were turning it over maybe six times a game, which still isn’t good but it’s way better than 20. Now we’re back to 20, and not against pressure. We just throw the ball to the wrong team.”

WVU’s 20 turnovers Saturday equaled its season high, as it gave the ball away 20 times in an 82-76 overtime loss at Kansas State on Dec. 31 as well. It’s also the 17th time in their 11 seasons as a member of the Big 12 that the Mountaineers have turned it over 20 or more times in a conference game. They have a 5-12 record in those charitable affairs.

“I can’t give you anything specific,” said WVU junior forward Tre Mitchell when asked about what led to the turnover problems. “I would say one (of reason) is me. I had five (turnovers), so clearly there is an issue there.

“We were just careless with the ball, and we have to take better care of it.”

Mitchell did have 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds Saturday, but he was just four of 11 from the field. Senior guard Kedrian Johnson was the only Mountaineer with more points than Mitchell, as he scored a career-high 22, but he also had a turnover issue with six. Texas was led in scoring by senior guard Marcus Carr, who had 23 points, 19 of which came in the second half.

It was that second half that pushed the Longhorns (16-3/5-2) to their eighth win over West Virginia in the last 10 meetings. WVU led 28-26 at halftime, but then Texas began to heat up offensively, converting 53.8% of its field goals (14 of 26) in the final 20 minutes, while also slowing down the Mountaineers, who made just 35.7% of their tries from the floor (10 of 28) in the period. That disparity allowed the visitors to outscore West Virginia 43-33 in the second half. UT closed the game with a 6-0 run in the final two and a half minutes to turn a razor-thin 63-61 lead into an eight-point victory.

“I know that Texas likes to pride itself on defense, but the situation is we pick and choose when we want to play together,” said an introspective Mitchell. “We pick and choose the moments that we want to move the ball, when we want to work together, when we want to screen for our teammate to get them open. Then we pick and choose moments where we say, ‘Forget about everybody else. I’m just going to try to do something myself.’ We have to start sharing the ball more and stay consistent with it. We had success with that early on, but then we deviated from it.”

It was an especially emotional loss for Mitchell, who transferred to West Virginia this past summer after spending the 2021-22 season at Texas.

“I just wanted to win, man; I just wanted to win,” said Mitchell, his heading hanging low. “Those were dudes (for UT), I went to war with them a year ago, worked out with them in the summer, went through ups and downs with them last year and built relationships with them. But that doesn’t change the fact that when we step in between those lines in different jerseys, it’s mine against yours. I just wanted to do what I could do to help us win, and clearly I didn’t do too well at that.”

After a snapping five-game losing streak with a 74-65 victory over No. 17 TCU on Wednesday, the Mountaineers couldn’t sustain the momentum Saturday against another ranked Big 12 foe. They’ll try to bounce back Wednesday (7 p.m. on ESPN) at Texas Tech (10-9/0-7).

“We just have to come to practice and work to get better,” stated Johnson. “We can’t dwell on it. We have plenty of games left. We just have to get better from this point.”

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – There’s an overused basketball cliché about having more turnovers than a bakery … but sometimes clichés are appropriate.

That was the case Saturday night in the WVU Coliseum when the Mountaineers’ 20 turnovers contributed a great deal in their 69-61 loss to seventh-ranked Texas.

“You can’t turn the ball over 20 times,” stated a dejected West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins, as his club fell to 11-8 overall and 1-6 in the Big 12 Conference. “We talked about that earlier in the year and said we were going to fix it. We had it down to where we were turning it over maybe six times a game, which still isn’t good but it’s way better than 20. Now we’re back to 20, and not against pressure. We just throw the ball to the wrong team.”

WVU’s 20 turnovers Saturday equaled its season high, as it gave the ball away 20 times in an 82-76 overtime loss at Kansas State on Dec. 31 as well. It’s also the 17th time in their 11 seasons as a member of the Big 12 that the Mountaineers have turned it over 20 or more times in a conference game. They have a 5-12 record in those charitable affairs.

“I can’t give you anything specific,” said WVU junior forward Tre Mitchell when asked about what led to the turnover problems. “I would say one (of reason) is me. I had five (turnovers), so clearly there is an issue there.

“We were just careless with the ball, and we have to take better care of it.”

Mitchell did have 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds Saturday, but he was just four of 11 from the field. Senior guard Kedrian Johnson was the only Mountaineer with more points than Mitchell, as he scored a career-high 22, but he also had a turnover issue with six. Texas was led in scoring by senior guard Marcus Carr, who had 23 points, 19 of which came in the second half.

It was that second half that pushed the Longhorns (16-3/5-2) to their eighth win over West Virginia in the last 10 meetings. WVU led 28-26 at halftime, but then Texas began to heat up offensively, converting 53.8% of its field goals (14 of 26) in the final 20 minutes, while also slowing down the Mountaineers, who made just 35.7% of their tries from the floor (10 of 28) in the period. That disparity allowed the visitors to outscore West Virginia 43-33 in the second half. UT closed the game with a 6-0 run in the final two and a half minutes to turn a razor-thin 63-61 lead into an eight-point victory.

“I know that Texas likes to pride itself on defense, but the situation is we pick and choose when we want to play together,” said an introspective Mitchell. “We pick and choose the moments that we want to move the ball, when we want to work together, when we want to screen for our teammate to get them open. Then we pick and choose moments where we say, ‘Forget about everybody else. I’m just going to try to do something myself.’ We have to start sharing the ball more and stay consistent with it. We had success with that early on, but then we deviated from it.”

It was an especially emotional loss for Mitchell, who transferred to West Virginia this past summer after spending the 2021-22 season at Texas.

“I just wanted to win, man; I just wanted to win,” said Mitchell, his heading hanging low. “Those were dudes (for UT), I went to war with them a year ago, worked out with them in the summer, went through ups and downs with them last year and built relationships with them. But that doesn’t change the fact that when we step in between those lines in different jerseys, it’s mine against yours. I just wanted to do what I could do to help us win, and clearly I didn’t do too well at that.”

After a snapping five-game losing streak with a 74-65 victory over No. 17 TCU on Wednesday, the Mountaineers couldn’t sustain the momentum Saturday against another ranked Big 12 foe. They’ll try to bounce back Wednesday (7 p.m. on ESPN) at Texas Tech (10-9/0-7).

“We just have to come to practice and work to get better,” stated Johnson. “We can’t dwell on it. We have plenty of games left. We just have to get better from this point.”

In the preseason, no one would have predicted that West Virginia and Baylor would meet on Dec. 11 with both teams still in search of their first Big 12 win.

That's where both are, though, tied with Texas Tech at the bottom of the conference, but that doesn't mean that this game is going to have any more intensity than past meetings between the two squads. Although the Bears have won the last three, prior meetings were hotly contested, as both were battling for position in the league and potential NCAA spots. Now, it's mostly the former, but that could be a first step on taking a shot at the second.

Baylor (10-5, 0-3) at West Virginia (10-5, 0-3)Wed Jan 11 7:00 PM ETWVU ColiseumMorgantown, WVTV: ESPN+NET: WVU: 19 / BU: 31Series: BU 14-8Last Game: BU 81-77Twitter: @BlueGoldNewsFacebook: BlueGoldNewsWeb: BlueGoldNews.com

WVU will need to not only address the issues of shooting and rebounding that have plagued it at times, but also those of defense. Baylor guards Keyonte George and Adam Flagler are averaging nearly identical 16.8 and 16.7 points per game, and both have the green light to shoot from just about anywhere on the court. Flagler has made 48% of his threes (41-85), while George tops him in volume (113 attempts) inf not accuracy (33.6%). Either is capable of putting together a good streak, though, and when 6-5 guard Langston Love is added to the equation (14-36), its clear that West Virginia will have to execute better on the defensive perimeter than it has done in league play.

It won't be easy, though as both George and Flagler are on the Wooden Award Mid-season Top 25 list.

A significant part trying to slow the duo is defending ball screens better, and not going under them, which allows shooters to stop and step back, or refuse the screen altogether, in order to get space. It's difficult to go over every screen, because that can then create space for a drive on the other side of the screener, but first things first. The Mountaineers can't allow this trio to get open looks at the hoop, or the result is going to the same as it was last Saturday.

* * * * * *

West Virginia has been credited with a total of 13 fast break points in its three league games. While those numbers are often inaccurate, they are usually at least in the neighborhood of the correct total, and this anemic performance is yet another big factor in WVU's losing streak. When shots aren't falling, West Virginia has, in past years, been able to make up for some of that with some transition buckets, but that hasn't been the case in 2023. A lack of defensive rebounding has also contributed to the lack of transition scoring, making this play phase something to watch against the Bears.

* * * * * *

It was almost a throwaway line, this 11-word sentence from Bob Huggins in the midst of yet another recitation of the shortcomings of his team.

"I don't know," the Hall of Fame coach said, "that we have the killer that we need."

While he didn't expand on that, perhaps he should have, because it seems pertinent.

First, WVU does have a player that can fill that role, that can take over a game and hit a big shot at a key moment. That's Erik Stevenson, but there's also no question that his game psyche hasn't been where it needs to be. There are players with the talent to do so, such as Emmitt Matthews and Tre Mitchell, but they've rarely demonstrated it. If they can't, is there anyone else on the team that can have produce a two- or three-minute stretch that makes the difference in games?

That duo has to be a bit selfish, if that's what it takes. While Stevenson got some criticism for taking 19 shots and making only four in the loss against Kansas, the fact is that he was attacking the lane, trying to put pressure on the defense and was able to create some room in doing so. Next time out, he might go 10-19, and that would be enough to produce a win against most clubs.

Again, Matthews and Mitchell have the skills, in multiple areas, to do the same. But if they don't, this game is likely to go the same way the previous three league contests have gone.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News)  — As on-court transgressions go in West Virginia basketball history, guard Erik Stevenson's technical foul due to a crotch grabbing gesture toward former Oklahoma State player Marcus Smart, now a Boston Celtic, in the midst of a rally he had engineered to put the Mountaineers in front in the middle of the second half of a 67-69 loss Monday night hardly stands out.

True, it's importance to the team and his teammates raises its level of stupidity by mega notches, seeing as just two days earlier he had gotten himself a technical foul for committing a nonsensical personal that Coach Bob Huggins felt led to Kansas State erasing a Mountaineer lead and ignited their victory rally.

But we're talking a history rich with inexplicable incidents that included a player, having taken himself out of a game at Notre Dame, standing at a courtside hot dog stand enjoying a wiener while his teammates gathered in the locker room at halftime; another player spitting upon an opposing cheerleader as he headed to the locker room accompanied by a coach after his second technical led to him being ejected from the game; the team's leading scorer being kicked off the squad in midseason for the famous "breaking team rules".

Even Huggins himself carved out a niche for himself when played a crucial game against Duquesne in the mid-1970s he got the fans in Pittsburgh quite riled up when, as someone once described the incident, B.B. Flenory's face inadvertently hit Huggins; elbow.

When that was brought up to Huggins a couple of years back, he responded by saying, "Yes, I think it was something like that."

Stevenson, of course, transferred in with a reputation of being somewhat unstable and irrational on the court.

In fact, early this year in a getting-to-know press conference, Mountaineer teammate Tre Mitchell offered up his early impression of Stevenson.

"I thought he was a little crazy, at first, if I'm to be honest" Mitchell said on Dec. 16. "I was like, 'Why is this dude yelling all the time?' After playing with him, you see the passion he plays with and his hunger and want to win is unmatched. He elevates everyone's level of play."

But obviously, he takes it too far on occasion. When it was mentioned to Huggins after that Stevenson was 'fiery", Huggins interrupted and said quite emotionally:

"Fiery? Kenyon Martin was a fiery guy. Kenyon Martin (an All-American and National Player of the Year under Huggins at Cincinnati) didn't do stupid things to get technicals and hurt his team. But he was a fiery guy. Pete Michael was a fiery guy. I've had a lot of fiery guys. But I haven't had any that hurt their teammates. That's not right."

It happens, though, and probably more in basketball than in any other sport. See, basketball players are unique kinds of athletes, as brawny and powerful as football players, as athletic and graceful as ballet dancers. The game is more of an artistic endeavor as much as it is an athletic endeavor and your artists, they run from Dali to Warhol to Picasso to Van Gogh.

As noted, WVU's had its share of strange characters.

Back in 1996 one of the best players ever at the school and yes, we're talking about a school that produced Jerry West and Hot Rod Hundley, was Gordon Malone, a tall, slender, athletic 6-foot-10 who created magic on the court and dismay off it, enough so that he was the perfect fit for his professional team, the Harlem Globetrotters.

Playing against Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., Malone had a disagreement with coach Gale Catlett on the bench.

Getting no satisfaction from the conversation, he simply took himself out of the game. That apparently did not sit too well with Catlett, especially after he skipped the halftime locker room meeting and was out there, in his uniform, munching on a hot dog at a hot dog stand near the tunnel that led to the locker room.

Turns out the game was more famous for that than being WVU's first road win as a member of the Big East.

A few years later Chris Moss, one of the toughest inside players WVU ever had, was going through personal problems, one of them being his mother's battle with multiple sclerosis.

In a 78-61 loss, also at Notre Dame, Moss had to be restrained after fouling out and was being escorted to the locker room by assistant coach Lester Rowe when the Irish student section began taunting him. He quickly turned and spit toward the crowd, hitting a cheerleader sitting on the floor along the baseline.

Moss issued an apology and took a leave of absence from the team to put his life back in order.

Drew Schifino was the last WVU player to average 20 points a game in a season in 2003 and was off to a good start on the 2004 season, averaging 18 points a game and owning a streak of 48 consecutive double figure games. But facing Notre Dame — there seems to be a trend there — there was something wrong with Schifino's play.

John Beilein was coach and Schifino had 9 points in the game with plenty of time left to reach double figures, but he was mysteriously removed from the game.

"People remember me being dismissed (from the team) instead of remembering I averaged 20 points a game as a sophomore; I broke a Big East record with 11 steals in one game as a freshman, I scored over 1,000 points in two and a half years. People forget the things I did. The last impression is always the one that lasts," he said in an interview more than a decade later.

He transferred, finished his career and became a youth coach.

Huggins has had his own discipline problems, including in 2019 when he dismissed starters Esa Ahmad and Wesley Harris from the team for "violation of athletic department policies" and with Derek Culver when he was suspended for the first semester of his freshman year for missing classes and being late for meetings.

Even last year Huggins had an incident with one of his favorite players, Gabe Osabuohien, also at Oklahoma State. In that game Osabuohien argued with an official, picked up a pair of technical fouls and was ejected. As he left, he said something to Huggins that caused him to jump and shout at the player as he left the arena floor.

Osabuohien was suspended for the next game, Huggins saying, "We don't have room in our program for Gabe's actions. If that was a first, OK, you lost it. I understand, but you can't do that anymore. It wasn't the first time."

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) — New Year's comes early this year.

Oh, for the world, it comes at midnight on Sunday morning when, in New York City, they count down the seconds until the ball drops at Times Square. But for West Virginia, the new year really begins with the ball goes up in a different Manhattan, the one in Kansas where Bob Huggins' Mountaineers usher in a new Big 12 season at Kansas State.

Tipoff is not midnight, but instead 7 p.m. Saturday, and while the national networks are holding their own New Year's Eve celebrations, if you want to see WVU's, you have to watch on ESPN+, if you can get it. A lot of people in this state can't, and Bob Huggins is well aware of that.

While Huggins' team is still in a "getting to know you" mode as far as playing together goes, with point guard Kedrian Johnson the only holdover starter from last year and forward Emmitt Matthews Jr., who is cleared to go in the opener after missing two games with a bone bruise on his knee, back at WVU after having spent last season playing at Washington, it will not be blinded by the light of a Big 12 opener because it is rich in experience.

Huggins was asked if the travel problems encountered as the players tried — and some failed — to get home for the Christmas holiday bothered them; he said not at all.

"We don't have a bunch of 18-year-olds, we have grown men," Huggins said.

He feels that the experience factor works in his team's favor even as it battles to learn the offense, defense, the teammates and the coach.

"They've seen a lot of things," Huggins said.

That includes offenses and defenses, hostile crowds as will be found at Kansas State and then Oklahoma State, big leads gained and big leads lost, hot hands and cold nights.

"Whatever they throw at us, we have people who have better recognition and know how to attack it," Huggins said.

That's Kedrian Johnson at the point and Erik Stevenson at the shooting guard. It's Joe Toussaint, who came over as a senior from Iowa, and Matthews returning to get his degree and try to win a championship with WVU stamped on it.

It's Tre Mitchell, maybe the most versatile of the lot, who can score inside and out, who is smooth and determined after having played in the Big 12 at Texas.

In fact, Mitchell, Matthews, Stevenson, Kedrian Johnson and Joe Toussaint have played an unheard of 530 collegiate games combined.

Stevenson often refers to himself playing "20 years," but it only feels like that, having been part of four programs.

One would think players who have used up as much eligibility as they have would be feeling a sense of urgency in what could be — and almost certainly will be — their final season.

But Huggins says there's a misconception with the team.

"We're not as old as people think we are," he said, noting that Matthews, Johnson and Stevenson are the only three on the roster whose eligibility expires after this year, even though with transfers and the professional ranks calling, others surely will exit at season's end.

Huggins says walking away with eligibility left is difficult.

"It's like Gabe (Osabuohien) said last year. He was here (in the gym) everyday, asking 'What would I do without it? I'd be lost.'"

Huggins, in fact, said he experienced that at the end of his playing career.

While Huggins' full identity now is with WVU, this is a homecoming for him as he coached the Wildcats for one year between his time at Cincinnati and coming home to WVU.

He will be facing a new coach at K-State in former Baylor assistant Jerome Tang, who is in his first year with the Wildcats. He has them off to an 11-1 start.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) — New Year’s comes early this year.

Oh, for the world, it comes at midnight on Sunday morning when, in New York City, they count down the seconds until the ball drops at Times Square. But for West Virginia, the new year really begins with the ball goes up in a different Manhattan, the one in Kansas where Bob Huggins’ Mountaineers usher in a new Big 12 season at Kansas State.

Tipoff is not midnight, but instead 7 p.m. Saturday, and while the national networks are holding their own New Year’s Eve celebrations, if you want to see WVU’s, you have to watch on ESPN+, if you can get it. A lot of people in this state can’t, and Bob Huggins is well aware of that.

While Huggins’ team is still in a “getting to know you” mode as far as playing together goes, with point guard Kedrian Johnson the only holdover starter from last year and forward Emmitt Matthews Jr., who is cleared to go in the opener after missing two games with a bone bruise on his knee, back at WVU after having spent last season playing at Washington, it will not be blinded by the light of a Big 12 opener because it is rich in experience.

Huggins was asked if the travel problems encountered as the players tried — and some failed — to get home for the Christmas holiday bothered them; he said not at all.

“We don’t have a bunch of 18-year-olds, we have grown men,” Huggins said.

He feels that the experience factor works in his team’s favor even as it battles to learn the offense, defense, the teammates and the coach.

“They’ve seen a lot of things,” Huggins said.

That includes offenses and defenses, hostile crowds as will be found at Kansas State and then Oklahoma State, big leads gained and big leads lost, hot hands and cold nights.

“Whatever they throw at us, we have people who have better recognition and know how to attack it,” Huggins said.

That’s Kedrian Johnson at the point and Erik Stevenson at the shooting guard. It’s Joe Toussaint, who came over as a senior from Iowa, and Matthews returning to get his degree and try to win a championship with WVU stamped on it.

It’s Tre Mitchell, maybe the most versatile of the lot, who can score inside and out, who is smooth and determined after having played in the Big 12 at Texas.

In fact, Mitchell, Matthews, Stevenson, Kedrian Johnson and Joe Toussaint have played an unheard of 530 collegiate games combined.

Stevenson often refers to himself playing “20 years,” but it only feels like that, having been part of four programs.

One would think players who have used up as much eligibility as they have would be feeling a sense of urgency in what could be — and almost certainly will be — their final season.

But Huggins says there’s a misconception with the team.

“We’re not as old as people think we are,” he said, noting that Matthews, Johnson and Stevenson are the only three on the roster whose eligibility expires after this year, even though with transfers and the professional ranks calling, others surely will exit at season’s end.

Huggins says walking away with eligibility left is difficult.

“It’s like Gabe (Osabuohien) said last year. He was here (in the gym) everyday, asking ‘What would I do without it? I’d be lost.’”

Huggins, in fact, said he experienced that at the end of his playing career.

While Huggins’ full identity now is with WVU, this is a homecoming for him as he coached the Wildcats for one year between his time at Cincinnati and coming home to WVU.

He will be facing a new coach at K-State in former Baylor assistant Jerome Tang, who is in his first year with the Wildcats. He has them off to an 11-1 start.