West Virginia tempted fate one too many times on Wednesday and the cost may be a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Mountaineers (16-10, 7-6 Big 12) had won two games in 10 days after trailing by 14 in the second half each time. But on Wednesday, West Virginia stormed from 15 back in the second half to pull within two of Utah in the closing minutes only to lose 61-58.
Losing to a team tied for last in the Big 12 does not look good in the eyes of the selection committee, but ESPN.com still has the Mountaineers on the bubble heading into Saturday’s game at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Mountaineers’ fate is greatly in their own hands as they play a trio of contenders: TCU on Saturday, Oklahoma State on Tuesday and No. 23 BYU on Feb. 28.
West Virginia coach Ross Hodge knows the Mountaineers must stop falling behind.
“We have a small margin for error,” Hodge said. “When you continually put yourself in the positions and dig yourself holes, it is tough. Some of that is the inconsistency that you’re playing with, whether it’s individually or collectively, but we continue to put ourselves in these holes. It’s to be commended, I guess, that we continuously fight back and give ourselves a chance in the game, but when you dig yourself those kinds of holes, so many things have to go right. In the games that we’ve been able to do that, we were able to kind of get over the hump with a big shot.”
The Mountaineers are led by senior guard Honor Huff (15.5 ppg), who was held to 12 points on 4-of-13 3-point shooting vs. Utah.
The Horned Frogs (16-10, 6-7) are higher on the at-large list, despite an 82-71 loss to UCF on Tuesday.
TCU never led and shot just 25-of-60 (41.7%) from the field and made only 4 of 21 3-point attempts.
The Horned Frogs had won three straight heading into the UCF game.
“Now we have to respond to our loss and get ready for West Virginia,” coach Jamie Dixon said. “We have to learn to handle adversity. We have to respond to that with our shot selection. We had eight or nine assists after having 18 the game before.”
The Horned Frogs are led by sophomore forward David Punch (14.2 points, 6.7 rebounds per game).
