MORGANTOWN —
The West Virginia men’s basketball team’s final game of the year seemed to size up the entire 2012-13 season very well.
In losing by 71-69 on a tip-in by Texas Tech with just four-tenths of a second left, the Mountaineers lacked consistency. They played very well at times throughout the Big 12 Conference Tournament first-round contest, only to fall short at the end.
That was typical in numerous games this year as WVU wound up with a disheartening 13-19 record, competing in the Big 12 for the first time.
The year-ending seven-game losing streak is the longest in legendary coach Bob Huggins’ great 31-year coaching career. This team also snapped the school’s nine-year postseason number of consecutive appearances. So were the 19 losses his highest number ever in a year.
West Virginia suffered a school-high 20 losses in 2001-02, Gale Catlett’s final year as head coach. His 1998-99 team had the program’s only other 19-loss season.
You might want to know that WVU enjoyed just 18 seasons of 20 or more wins in the last 42 years of men’s basketball competition.
This year’s team gave up more points per game (68.1) than those of the past 10 years. Offensively, the team’s average number of points per game (66.1) is the lowest in Huggins’ six seasons as head coach here.
As a result, WVU finished without at least one player averaging double figures in scoring since World War II was raging in 1944.
Eron Harris, a fine freshman guard, was the team’s leading scorer at 9.8 points per game this year. He tallied 10 points or more in 12 of his last 17 games.
Last summer Huggins told me that, “We’re going to be better than we were last season — a lot better.”
Unfortunately, the Mountaineers were worse — a lot worse — than he anticipated.
He definitely did not see this disappointing season coming and places the blame upon himself — not his players. He had hoped he could “fix it” as the season progressed.
Unfortunately, that never happened.
Huggins, who has 713 career victories, ranks No. 3 among the nation’s active winningest Division I coaches. He coached in his 1,000th career game on Feb. 9 at TCU.
He said recently, “I’ve always kind of taken a lot of pride in the fact I could get guys to play hard. I could get guys to compete.
“People didn’t like to play against us because we played so hard and we competed so hard.
“We tried to rebound the ball. We just did the right things. For some reason, I haven’t been able to reach these guys, which is my fault.
“I should have found a way to reach them.”
Today's Sports Front
Loss to Texas Tech was typical of entire season for Huggins’ team
- Today's Sports Front
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A dream start, nightmare end
Lightning on the horizon brought Wednesday's final game of the state softball tournament to an end.
The James Monroe Lady Mavericks had felt a shock long before that. -
One step away from Charleston
A trip to Charleston — with a lot more on the agenda than a tour of the capitol building and a shopping spree at Charleston Town Center — will be up for grabs tonight for three area teams that are one win away from punching their ticket to the WVSSAC State Baseball Tournament at Appalachian Power Park.
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Tanner is Summers County coach
After weeks of controversy, it appears Summers County High School officially has a new football coach.
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WVU baseball changes up pitching lineup for Big 12 Championship
Randy Mazey’s attention has been on everything but baseball in recent days, as the West Virginia University coach has been out in front of his team’s effort to help the tornado victims in Oklahoma, where his team has been this week preparing for the Big 12 Baseball Championships, which begin today at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla.
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Woodrow downs defending AAA champs
It’s a play that Woodrow Wilson has practiced everyday this season and has rarely had to utilize.
It’s a good thing the Flying Eagles did practice it; it saved their season and led to a 2-1 victory over defending state champion Princeton. -
No repeat for Warriors
Independence has been on a tear offensively the entire month of May. It didn’t stop Tuesday, even against Wyoming East ace Derek Thornton.
The Patriots led 5-0 after two innings, and Brian Sexton — backed by that very offense and some sparkling defense — gutted out a complete game in a 7-5 win in the Class AA Region 3 semifinals Tuesday night. -
’Hounds hold off upset bid from Man Hillbillies
Valley’s potent offense never came to life, but the Greyhounds are still alive.
Valley (22-7) — with several players hitting .400 or better this season — could muster just three singles against underdog Man (6-20-1) in one of two Class A Region 3 baseball semifinals Tuesday, but the ’Hounds manufactured two runs in the crucial fifth inning to finally go ahead of the stubborn Hillbillies and escape with a 3-2 victory. -
WVU baseball team helps tornado victims
West Virginia University head baseball coach Randy Mazey was having lunch at an Oklahoma City restaurant Monday afternoon, keeping a close watch on the television set.
With every passing minute, the tornado that devastated the Oklahoma town of Moore, was moving closer and closer to his location and its path was being documented by a local television station. At one point, the coach even looked out the window to see if he could see the approaching funnel. -
Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship Format Changed
In the wake of this week’s devastating storm in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, the Big 12 Conference is postponing the start of the 2013 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship. No. 3 seeded WVU scheduled to take on Kansas at 4 p.m. (Central) on Thursday.
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Patriots, Warriors meet in anticipated matchup
The matchup many people expected will take place today.
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