Mountaineers remain in funk
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia’s Bob Huggins has hit a low point with his freshman-laden team.
A lack of defense and a lack of running down loose balls and passing to open teammates have the coach in a funk after the Mountaineers blew a 15-point lead in the second half and lost to No. 10 Marquette 61-60 Friday night.
It marked the second time this week that West Virginia (17-12, 7-9 Big East) fell apart after halftime. No. 20 Notre Dame outscored West Virginia 41-16 in the second half in a lopsided win on Wednesday.
“We are not consistent in our effort,” Huggins said. “We are not consistent on our daily approach to what is supposed to happen.”
West Virginia (17-12, 7-9) has lost four of five and may need to win its final two regular-season games to have any chance at a bid to its fifth straight NCAA tournament.
“We’ve got to find a way to win,” West Virginia’s Kevin Jones said. “We’ve got to keep on fighting, regardless. It’s going to take a whole lot to get into the tournament. I feel like as long as we keep playing, we still have a chance.
“I’m not going to give up. I know my teammates aren’t going to give up.”
Darius Johnson-Odom, Marquette’s leading scorer, sat out the first half along with team assists leader Junior Cadougan and Vander Blue for violating team rules. Still, the Golden Eagles (24-5, 13-3 Big East) won their fifth straight and 12th in the past 13 games.
Marquette coach Buzz Williams declined to give the reason behind the penalties.
“Regardless of locale, regardless of time of year, regardless of winning streak or losing streak or magnitude of the game, there has to be a standard,” Williams said.
