MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia concludes its two-game Big 12 homestand at the WVU Coliseum on Tuesday night against UCF.
 
The Knights have lost three straight since defeating Oklahoma on Feb. 3 and have just one win since topping the Mountaineers 72-59 in Orlando back on Jan. 23.
 
In that game, West Virginia shot just 37.3% and failed to get a double-figure scorer from its starting five. Forward Josiah Harris came off the bench to score 15 points, making 5-of-8 from 3-point distance.
 
The Knights got 18 points from 6-foot-4 guard Jaylin Sellers and 14 points and 12 rebounds from 7-foot center Ibrahima Diallo, who also blocked four shots. WVU was playing that game without 6-foot-11 center Jesse Edwards while he was still recovering from his wrist fracture against Massachusetts.
 
Leading scorer RaeQuan Battle was called for a double-technical foul with 10:52 remaining and the Knights leading by 16 points to see his night end early. He scored just five points on 2-of-6 shooting.
 
West Virginia coach Josh Eilert said his team didn't handle UCF's physicality well the first time out in Orlando.
 
"We didn't turn the ball over that many times (11), which isn't a crazy number, but I think more than anything their pressure sped us up, and we bailed on a lot of our actions, and we didn't certainly execute to the standard that we need to be successful," he said earlier today.
 
"We kind of put our head down and drove it when in reality we should have kept the ball moving and made the extra pass instead of feeling that pressure and trying to fight it with the dribble."
 
Since that win, UCF (13-11, 4-8) has lost twice to Cincinnati, once to Baylor, once to Texas Tech and once to BYU. The Knights' losses at BYU and at home against Cincinnati were by two points each.
 
"They are going through the same thing we're trying to go through trying to grind out wins," Eilert pointed out. "The big game I point to is BYU. They go there and they put an enormous amount of points on the board late and they got to the free throw line 42 times. 
 
"They didn't shoot it all that well until late in the game, but they are fighting, clawing and doing everything they can to be successful in this league. We are kind of in the same boat trying to figure that out," he said.
 
Sellers continues to lead Central Florida in scoring with an average of 17 points per game. Darius Johnson, a 6-foot-1 guard, is contributing 13.6 points per contest while Diallo shows averages of 6.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game with a team-best 45 blocked shots.
 
West Virginia, meanwhile, has given up 75 points off turnovers in its last three games, according to Eilert, and that has helped contribute to the defensive issues that have seen opponents score at least 81 points in the Mountaineers' last four defeats.
 
"There have been times when we've been very good at taking care of the ball and there are times when we've been sloppy with it," Eilert said. "We're trying to find the small areas that we can control.
 
"It's not always on the guards," he added. "Sometimes it's our effort, cuts and timing in terms of running our offensive sets in getting open, but we need to value the basketball better."
 
Last Saturday, WVU gave up 94 points to Baylor because of turnovers and second-chance points. Battle was responsible for 25 points while Edwards nearly missed another double-double with 21 points and nine rebounds against the Bears.
 
West Virginia lost by 13 points despite shooting 52.9% from the floor against the Bears.
 
"Baylor probably scored on nine out of 10 possessions in second-chance points," Eilert noted.
 
An announced paid crowd of 12,558 showed up last Saturday, extending WVU's streak of 10,000-plus crowds to seven straight games. Overall, the Mountaineers have had 10 dates with more than 10,000 fans and are averaging 10,618 for its 15 home games so far this year, an impressive figure considering the team's overall 8-17 record.
 
Tuesday night's game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPNU.

Guard Seth Wilson, who missed the Baylor game because of a death in the family, is also expected to miss Tuesday night's game as well, according to Eilert.
 
Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps begins at 6 p.m.
 
Tickets are available and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
 
The remainder of West Virginia's regular season slate includes trips to Iowa State on Feb. 24 and to Kansas State on Feb. 26, followed by back-to-back home games against Texas Tech on March 2 and TCU on March 6.
 
WVU concludes the regular season on Saturday, March 9, at Cincinnati.