In a night reserved for a record in futility, the West Virginia Mountaineers lost to the Cincinnati Bearcats Wednesday night 62-39 in Morgantown.
The Mountaineers (15-6), who had their worst shooting night since 1951, converted just 10 of 50 field goals, to shoot twenty percent from the floor.
The much anticipated showdown against a Bearcats team which Huggins coached for 16 years never materialized, as Cincinnati got off to an early lead and were never challenged.
The Bearcats were content to pack in a zone, allowing WVU to shoot mid-range jumpers the entire evening. The usually potent WVU three-point attack was anemic, hitting just 1-for-22, a Darris Nichols jumper from the top of the arc, midway through the second half.
Due to West Virginia's inability to convert, the Bearcats manhandled the Mountaineers on the boards, out rebounding WVU by a 47-26 margin.
Nichols led WVU with 17 points, helped by a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line. It was the ineffectiveness of the other starters which was the story.
Joe Alexander, bothered by a groin injury, was 0-for-10 from the field. The usually reliable Alex Ruoff was 1-for-12, and Da'Sean Butler shot 4-for-15.
It appeared the Mountaineers were suffering from a hangover from last Saturday's two-point loss to Georgetown and did not have an answer for Cincinnati's energy and athleticism.
The two consecutive losses at home may jeopardize West Virginia's bid to make the NCAA tournament. With a good portion of the Big East schedule to be played, the Mountaineers have time to right their ship.
However, things do not get easier as they must travel to play Providence on Saturday.
Cincinnati (10-11), which has begun to make noise in the conference with recent wins against Villanova and Louisville, was led by Deonta Vaughn's 18 points.
comments (0) write a comment »
write a new comment
This article has no comments.