Four Initial Takeaways From West Virginia's Loss to No. 10 Houston
Wednesday night, the West Virginia Mountaineers fell to the Houston Cougars, 70-54, dropping them to 12-4 (3-2) on the season.
Her are a few of my takeaways from tonight's action.
No quit in this bunch
Whether it was tonight or in their most recent loss against Arizona, this group just does not give in. They may have it on some nights, but the effort, toughness, and grit are always there. If you just simply look at the two rosters side by side and who's available, the Mountaineers had no business of keeping this game interesting. It's a credit to Darian DeVries for continuing to get the most out of these guys.
Hansberry's night
It's been a minute since Amani Hansberry has had much of a hand in West Virginia's offense, but tonight, he was able to get it going a little bit, especially from three. Defensively, they need more consistency out of him. Once he started scoring the ball, he picked up his energy on the defensive end, moved around well, and closed off passing lanes. Scoring always gives you an extra boost of confidence, but they need that energy even if the offense isn't there for him on a given night.
Lack of depth showed again
I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but until West Virginia gets Tucker DeVries back (if they do), it's going to be difficult for them to win many of these games in Big 12 play against the cream of the crop. I'm aware they beat Kansas without him, but at some point, the wheels could get a little wobbly because of his absence, paired with the team's short rotation.
Houston is a legitimate national title contender
There's no shame in losing to a team like Houston - they may just be one of the best teams in the entire country. They can really shoot it from deep, they play defense at an elite level, and they have a deep rotation. Not only do I believe they can win the Big 12 Conference, but I'm a firm believer in the Cougars making a deep run in March, perhaps all the way to the championship game.
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