Sunday, December 16
Uncasville, Conn.
1:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
6-4
70
vs
83
Rhode Island
5-3
1
2
F
West Virginia
43
27
70
Rhode Island
45
38
83
Photo by: Joe Faraoni / ESPN Images
Shooting Woes Doom WVU in Hall of Fame Classic
December 16, 2018 04:17 PM | Men's Basketball
Rhode Island took advantage of West Virginia's poor shooting to run away with an 83-70 victory over the Mountaineers in the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, Sunday afternoon.
The Mountaineers, with starting forward Sagaba Konate who was unavailable for today's game with an injured right knee, struggled without him to find any offensive rhythm against the Rams, now 5-3.
WVU trailed the entire first half and if not for the free throw line the Rams' two-point halftime lead would have been much larger.
"Every day in practice it's been catch the ball and square up, don't catch the ball and dribble it," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "We don't do it so consequently we turn the ball over."
West Virginia briefly took a three-point lead on Brandon Knapper's 3 early in the second half, but another field goal drought saw the Rams rebuild their lead to four when Omar Silverio's jumper made it 63-59.
It was still a one-point game with 8:21 remaining when WVU came unglued.
A missed Ahmad 3 turned into a Cyril Langevine dunk. Then, back-to-back misses by Chase Harler and Ahmad resulted in another run-out dunk by Jeff Dowtin. The next time down the floor, a Jermaine Haley turnover led to Langevine's jumper to give Rhode Island a seven-point cushion.
WVU temporarily trimmed the deficit to four on Wesley Harris' 3, but five straight empty possessions enabled Rhode Island to expand its margin to 75-65 and take control of the game with 2:39 remaining.
URI's biggest lead was 14 points achieved twice at 81-67 and 82-86.
"We don't screen and we just don't do anything hard," Huggins said. "We kind of go through the motions. We don't make hard cuts to the basket. We don't curl hard. Everything is really soft and it's 100 percent my fault. I've let things happen that have never happened before and that's my fault."
Guards Fatts Russell and Jeff Dowtin led five Rhode Island double figure scorers with 18 points each. Langeville added 15 points and six rebounds after sitting a good portion of the first half in early foul trouble.
West Virginia, much like it did in its 10-point loss to Florida 12 days ago in Madison Square Garden, struggled all game long on the offensive end of the floor. The Mountaineers were 18-of-56 shooting, including 5-of-25 from 3-point distance while turning the ball over 15 times.
WVU's only effective offensive player today was forward Wesley Harris, who made five of his six shot attempts to finish with a career-high 18 points.
Ahmad added 12 but got off just six shot attempts, making two, while starting guards Beetle Bolden and Chase Harler were a combined 1-of-14 shooting with two assists and four turnovers.
The point differential between the two starting backcourts favored Rhode Island 36-6.
Huggins was also unhappy with his team's non-existent pressure that resulted in just one steal. The Rams had a 44-24 scoring edge in the paint and got 20 points off of those 15 WVU turnovers.
"They get six steals and we get one and we're supposed to be the best pressing team in America," Huggins said. "They shoot (48 percent) from a team that is shooting 20 percent from 3 coming in."
West Virginia (6-4) returns to the Coliseum to face Jacksonville State next Saturday afternoon in a noon game that will be televised locally on AT&T SportsNet.
The Mountaineers will have one final non-conference matchup against Lehigh before Big 12 play begins on Jan. 2 against Texas Tech at the Coliseum.
The Mountaineers, with starting forward Sagaba Konate who was unavailable for today's game with an injured right knee, struggled without him to find any offensive rhythm against the Rams, now 5-3.
WVU trailed the entire first half and if not for the free throw line the Rams' two-point halftime lead would have been much larger.
"Every day in practice it's been catch the ball and square up, don't catch the ball and dribble it," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "We don't do it so consequently we turn the ball over."
West Virginia briefly took a three-point lead on Brandon Knapper's 3 early in the second half, but another field goal drought saw the Rams rebuild their lead to four when Omar Silverio's jumper made it 63-59.
It was still a one-point game with 8:21 remaining when WVU came unglued.
A missed Ahmad 3 turned into a Cyril Langevine dunk. Then, back-to-back misses by Chase Harler and Ahmad resulted in another run-out dunk by Jeff Dowtin. The next time down the floor, a Jermaine Haley turnover led to Langevine's jumper to give Rhode Island a seven-point cushion.
WVU temporarily trimmed the deficit to four on Wesley Harris' 3, but five straight empty possessions enabled Rhode Island to expand its margin to 75-65 and take control of the game with 2:39 remaining.
URI's biggest lead was 14 points achieved twice at 81-67 and 82-86.
"We don't screen and we just don't do anything hard," Huggins said. "We kind of go through the motions. We don't make hard cuts to the basket. We don't curl hard. Everything is really soft and it's 100 percent my fault. I've let things happen that have never happened before and that's my fault."
Guards Fatts Russell and Jeff Dowtin led five Rhode Island double figure scorers with 18 points each. Langeville added 15 points and six rebounds after sitting a good portion of the first half in early foul trouble.
West Virginia, much like it did in its 10-point loss to Florida 12 days ago in Madison Square Garden, struggled all game long on the offensive end of the floor. The Mountaineers were 18-of-56 shooting, including 5-of-25 from 3-point distance while turning the ball over 15 times.
WVU's only effective offensive player today was forward Wesley Harris, who made five of his six shot attempts to finish with a career-high 18 points.
Ahmad added 12 but got off just six shot attempts, making two, while starting guards Beetle Bolden and Chase Harler were a combined 1-of-14 shooting with two assists and four turnovers.
The point differential between the two starting backcourts favored Rhode Island 36-6.
Huggins was also unhappy with his team's non-existent pressure that resulted in just one steal. The Rams had a 44-24 scoring edge in the paint and got 20 points off of those 15 WVU turnovers.
"They get six steals and we get one and we're supposed to be the best pressing team in America," Huggins said. "They shoot (48 percent) from a team that is shooting 20 percent from 3 coming in."
West Virginia (6-4) returns to the Coliseum to face Jacksonville State next Saturday afternoon in a noon game that will be televised locally on AT&T SportsNet.
The Mountaineers will have one final non-conference matchup against Lehigh before Big 12 play begins on Jan. 2 against Texas Tech at the Coliseum.
Team Stats
WVU
URI
FG%
.321
.468
3FG%
.200
.294
FT%
.784
.606
RB
42
40
TO
15
9
STL
1
6
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
7
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballTV Highlights: WVU 69, Lehigh 47
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