MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia men’s basketball coach Ross Hodge spaced an index finger and thumb within no more than a quarter inch of each other to signify what the Mountaineers’ margin for error is within Big 12 Conference play.
Minutes before, Hodge looked on as the Mountaineers were unable to overcome an abundance of early errors in Wednesday night’s matchup with Utah. In turn, the home team trailed 18-3 and played from behind throughout in a 61-56 setback to the Utes.
Utah hadn’t won on the road this season and brought an end to a 15-game road losing streak. West Virginia, once 13-0 inside Hope Coliseum, lost its third straight home game before returning to the road for two straight — Saturday at TCU and Tuesday at Oklahoma State.
This time, unlike in several Big 12 wins and each of its last two (at Cincinnati and at Central Florida), WVU couldn’t quite catchup from the double-digit deficit. The Mountaineers were to within two late, but never led.
“We have a small margin for error and when you continually put yourself in these positions and dig yourself holes, some of that is the inconsistency that you’re playing with whether it’s individually or collectively,” Hodge said. “It’s to be commended that we continuously fight back and give ourselves a chance, but when you dig the holes, so many things have to go right. In the games we were able to do that, we were able to get over the hump with a big shot. We weren’t able to do that.”
The Mountaineers (16-10, 7-6) failed to rebound at an adequate level, with the Utes grabbing 23 to WVU’s 12 through the first 20 minutes. Perhaps even more alarming was that Utah rebounded seven of its 17 first-half misses. The Utes settled for a 38-28 rebounding advantage on the night, and had a 9-4 edge on second-chance points in a game decided by five.
“So much of that is the force at which they drive the ball with and we couldn’t really stay in front of the ball, so they collapse you,” Hodge said. “Those guards get a lot of attention and make your forwards step up and they get it up on the window. Our physicality and urgency to block out wasn’t good enough.”
While Hodge at least somewhat downplayed the significance of the free-throw shooting, there’s no denying it played a pivotal factor in the outcome.
WVU made 5-of-10 foul shots in the opening half while struggling to score for lengthy stretches of it. The Mountaineers were 2 for 5 from the charity stripe in the second half.
“All you can really do is continue to work on it, try to find creative methods and different ways and put them in different situations,” Hodge said. “But those guys want to make those. They really do.
“If you’re going to get out-rebounded by 10, you can’t go 7 for 15 from the foul line. If you’re going to miss 30 shots and only get seven offensive rebounds, you better make your free throws. You can miss your free throws if you miss 30 shots and go get 15 offensive rebounds, but you can’t do all of them. But it certainly helps, in particular when you’ve dug yourself a hole and you’re trying to dig yourself out of that hole and you’re splitting.”
WVU is 0-3 within the Big 12 this season when failing to score more points off free throws than its opponents and 6-3 in league action when it does exactly that.
But the Mountaineers are second-to-last in the conference in free-throw shooting at 67.3 percent, and that figure drops to a Big 12-worst 63 percent in league games.
For a team that struggles to score and has the minuscule margin for error Hodge often references, those are precious (and free) points they’re missing out on too often.
Moving forward from disappointment is something the Mountaineers have shown they’re plenty capable of. WVU has been victorious after each of its five previous Big 12 losses and the team has lost consecutively only once this season.
To keep that intact, West Virginia will need to win Saturday at a place where success has been tough to come by — TCU’s Schollmaier Arena. The Mountaineers have lost four straight in Fort Worth and seven of eight.
The Horned Frogs (16-10, 6-7) are in better postseason standing than WVU with a NET rating of 47 to the Mountaineers’ 61, but their three-game win streak was snapped Tuesday with a loss at Central Florida.
Forward David Punch is TCU’s most productive player with team-best averages of 14.2 points and 6.7 rebounds. Three teammates — forward Xavier Edmonds (12.4), guard Jayden Pierre (10.7) and forward Micah Robinson (10.4) also are double-figure scoring.
TCU is surrendering 80.2 points on average on 47.2 percent shooting against Big 12 teams, but averages just south of 77 points in those games and nearly 79 overall.
For WVU, containing the Horned Frogs early comes into focus, as does the ability for the Mountaineers to create offense and develop rhythm.
“We are trying to feel the game out and when we do that, the other team is pressing [on the gas],” WVU guard Honor Huff said. “When you have a team with nothing to lose, they come in here with reckless abandon and we’re not in tune with the physical process. Little things are being replicated every game and that’s something we have to figure out as a group. It’s really hurting us and determining what we want to do on the end goal.”
Instead of praising his team’s ability to respond to early deficits, Hodge would much prefer to discuss his squad building a rare early lead.
“You can’t continuously put yourself in those situations and think you’re always going to be able to come back, but the fight back and togetherness, you appreciate that,” Hodge said. “But some of it is we need to play better, with more consistency from individuals and collectively so we don’t find ourselves in those situations. There is something that’s leading up to being down 14 and 15 and starting slow in these games. That’s what we have to ultimately figure out.”