WVU Struggles In Season-Opening Win
Mountaineers recover from poor rebounding in 60-53 victory
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MORGANTOWN -- The first game of a men's basketball season often brings with it an abundance of growing pains, whether it be shaking off rust, building chemistry or something entirely different.
West Virginia experienced all that and then some in Tuesday's season-opening matchup with Oakland. A slow start seemed to spell doom for the Mountaineers, but a second-half shapeup ultimately helped West Virginia down the Golden Grizzlies, 60-53.
Among the notable areas of concern on the statsheet was rebounding, which saw Oakland come down with 15 more than the Mountaineers during the game. Forward Gabe Osabuohien led the way with nine, while fellow big men like Isaiah Cottrell and Dimon Carrigan only came down with four apiece.
West Virginia (1-0) also struggled to halt opportunities for Oakland's offense as the Golden Grizzlies came down with 20 offensive rebounds. They were able to turn those into 13 second-chance points.
"If you count, which we do, rebounding as part of defense, we sucked," head coach Bob Huggins said after the game. "I think we're getting better staying in front of our guy, we just don't rebound the ball. We stand around and watch. That's gotta get fixed in a hurry."
"We're gonna rebound til we've got some black and blue butts tomorrow, how's that?" Huggins later added.
"We're gonna block out and block out and block out and block out."
Rebounding was a key factor in the team's slow start, as was an inability to score the basketball. West Virginia opened the game going 2 of 12 from the field, struggling to draw near Oakland until much later in the first half.
When the Mountaineers took the lead for the second and final time five minutes before halftime, they were able to sufficiently hold off the Golden Grizzlies for the remainder of the game -- for the most part. Despite building a lead peaking at 17 points, West Virginia saw it slowly chipped into before ending the game ahead by only seven.
But, a win is a win, and on the back of Osabuohien, the Mountaineers were able to open the season on the right foot. In addition to his rebounding effort, the fifth-year forward drew five crucial charges and scored six points.
Also a bright spot was the team's defensive play in neutralizing Oakland guard Jalen Moore, forcing him to turn the ball over 13 times -- one fewer than the Mountaineers had as a whole.
The successes are few and far between according to guard Taz Sherman, who noted that drastic improvements will be needed as the season progresses.
"I don't think we're real good right now," Sherman said. "When Big 12 play is here, we can't play like this, we're gonna lose by 20. Once we play teams like Kansas and Texas, teams with like 7-foot, 6-10 bigs, we're going to get out rebounded by more than 15 and then they're gonna capitalize on those offensive rebounds. We've just got to be better in every facet of the game."
West Virginia will hit the court next on Friday for this season's iteration of the Backyard Brawl, hosting Pittsburgh. The scheduled 8:30 p.m. tipoff will be televised on ESPNU.
"I know it's a big rivalry, I know how much this game means to the state of West Virginia," Sherman said. "We're just gonna come out, give it our all. We're gonna show a better performance than we did today."