WVU-Providence: Mountaineers Score Sloppy Win Over Friars

I'm still trying to figure out what to make of WVU's 58-53 win over Providence in the first round of the Big East Tournament.

WVU shot only 64 percent from the free-throw line and committed 17 turnovers. Star shooter Alex Ruoff was only two-for-eight and scored five points. Worse, he was only one-for-seven shooting three-point attempts. WVU was only 3-15 shooting threes.

In the first half, the announcers correctly noted that WVU looked sluggish and sloppy. I counted WVU turnovers on four straight possessions from bad passes into traffic and other casual ball-handling.

WVU was lucky to manage at tie at halftime, thanks to a three-pointer by Joe Alexander at the buzzer.

Yet, Coach Bob Huggins was interestingly upbeat after the game, saying he was happy with his team's defensive effort. For the game, Providence shot only 42 percent and was held without a field goal for the final seven minutes.

Today's effort and results—a five-point win over the tourney's 12th-seed—does not make me optimistic heading into today's game against number two seeded UConn.

But maybe Huggins saw something I didn't.