This is a strange feeling. WVU doesn’t often find itself competing for a championship at any level. I mean we haven’t been competing for anything since we were the Big 12 Tournament Runner-Ups three years in a row from 2016-2018. A LOT has happened in the last 6 years and none of them have been particularly great for us. Oklahoma, similarly, hasn’t had a ton of success recently either as they went 7-11 in SEC play and 21-15 overall. We do have our work cut out for us, though; the Sooners have won 7 of their last 8 and something will have to give. With everything this team has put me through this season I have no other choice but to believe that we can make some magic one more time.
You know I think it may be a good thing that I don’t get too high on this team. I’m not sure my heart could take it if I did. We started this game out incredibly; 8-0 to start the game, we made 5 threes in the first 7 minutes of the game, and Honor Huff hit his first 5 shots from deep after he’s struggled in this tournament. At that point we are on Cloud 9 and nothing could bring us down… until it did.
The Sooners went on a 7-0 run in about 90 seconds, and we responded by missing 7 shots in a row. Through the first ten minutes of the game it seemed like this was going to be a drumming, but with 5 minutes left in the first half Oklahoma made it a one possession game, and a few seconds later they tied it up at 30, and then a few seconds later they took the lead.
That has been an unfortunate theme for this team this year: they’ll get out to a hot start, start to feel themselves, stop playing defense, try to make up for it with ridiculous heat checks on offense, and then before we know it we’re either down or the game is tied. At one point in this game the Sooners went on a 21-2 run and I, again, had to mentally check out of the game. It’s a self preservation tool and without it I’m pretty sure this team would have killed me.
We’re down 41-37 at the half and it’s the usual reasons as to why we’re losing: we’re getting killed on the boards (13-7), we’re getting decimated at points in the paint (24-8), and of course it doesn’t help that we choked a 15 point lead. There’s a lot of basketball left to be played, and I want to be hopeful, but I’ll be skeptical until the final buzzer sounds.
Five minutes into the second half after Oklahoma hit a 3, they went up 13 points and I knew then that it was over. I’ve watched every single second WVU basketball this year, and I’ve seen this story play out too many times to think it’ll end any differently. That is, until Honor Huff woke up. We were down as much as 13 at one points and when we needed him most, Honor Huff delivered. He was able to tie the game up with his tremendous play and forced what was surely a loss into an overtime game. Honor Huff and Chance Moore combined for 50 points in regulation and if we didn’t have them this could have been a VERY disappointing end to our season.
After a very rocky and exciting overtime period, we won the last game of the season 89-82 AND THE WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS ARE CHAMPIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 16 YEARS. Honor Huff ends his Mountaineer career with a 38 point performance which is the most points in a game by a Mountaineer since 2009 (our guy Da’Sean Butler). Chance Moore had 19, Brenen Lorient chipped in 15, and that trio that we’ve leaned on ALL YEAR LONG delivered when it mattered most. I was on the edge of my seat the entire second half, and I’m happy that we’re able to end this year on this high of a high.
This team was, is, and always has been incredibly flawed. Our starting Point Guard isn’t an offensive threat, our starting Center can’t rebound unless it’s a nationally televised game, and our starting Small Forward has been the definition of inconsistent when he was supposed to be our second scoring option. If it’s possible I think that we both overachieved and underperformed this year. We shouldn’t have beat Kansas or BYU this year, so we overachieved there. We also shouldn’t have lost to Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Utah, Ohio State, TCU, or Baylor. Despite the team’s many flaws, I do think that Coach Hodge is building a good foundation here in Morgantown. The play of DJ Thomas the last few games has been really promising, and although he doesn’t get nearly as many minutes as DJ, I like the idea of what Amir Jenkins could become. Not to mention the additions next year of Aliou Dioum, Kingston Whitty, and Miles Sadler. I think that we’re going to build something great in West Virginia, and it’s a shame that I now have to wait 211 days to see how great we could really be.
What a great day to be a Mountaineer, I just wish you were here to celebrate with me. I love you, Dad. I miss you. I’ll see you next season.
Round The Game 
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