At halftime, the MOuntaineers lead 30-24 behind some hot three point shooting. Here are some first half thoughts:
- Three point shooting kept the Mountaineers in it early, but that waned as the half wore on. Casey Mitchell, Dalton Pepper, John Flowers and Truck Bryant all hit big threes. Didn't stop there, and mid-half it degenerated into a lazy chuck-fest.
- When the offense goes through the high post, it seems to work. Both Deniz Kilicli and Kevin Jones have proven they can hit the ten-footer. Cam Thoroughman has passed from the post successfully, though he spent much of the half on the bench with two fouls.
- The 'Cuse run-outs are killing the 'Eers. They can't seem to run offense against WVU's man to man defense, but in transition they've been eating the 'Eers lunch. Nothing causes run-outs like bad offense, and WVU's run some of that.
- Late in the half, the mojo comes back and Flowers and Mitchell hit back to back threes and suddenly West Virginia goes from struggling to leading. Right now they're 7 for 13 from deep. That's huge.
- So, despite getting out worked on the boards and letting the 'Cuse get some run outs that led to easy buckets, the 'Eers have to be happy. If they can keep hitting their deep shots, it could be easy. If they can't, and I honestly don't think they will, they'll need to continue to work it into the key and hope KJ and the Turk can hit the mid-range shot. Whatever the shot selection, crashing the boards and rotating back on defense will be key to second half success.