It was a back-and-forth match, but sloppy play from the Texas Longhorns gave the West Virginia Mountaineers an advantage.
Mountaineer fans can breathe a sigh of relief: their rag-tag squad won their first Big 12 game of the season. In fact, they pulled off an upset against the 25th-ranked Longhorns.
Takeaway #1: Texas might be overrated
On Saturday, it appeared as if the Longhorns forgot to get off the plane. While they had many opportunities to take charge of the game, they only had the lead for three minutes total.
Texas had a season-high 22 turnovers, and West Virginia scored 15 points off of their mistakes. Those are 15 points that Texas gave out for free and could’ve easily helped them win.
There weren’t many bright spots on the offensive side either. Only two Longhorns managed to score double-digits, one being Max Abrams who had 32 of their points.
It’s important to note that Texas lost to another unranked Big 12 rival in Texas Tech only last week. Whether the Longhorns aren’t taking their competition seriously or are just having issues is undetermined. Their top-25 ranking does seem to be a head-scratcher.
Takeaway #2: Patrick Suemnick is an unlikely hero
If you had told me last season that Suemnick would’ve led the Mountaineers to a victory over Texas, I would’ve laughed in your face. This is a guy who didn’t see much playing time unless there were injuries.
On Saturday, he proved that Jesse Edwards shouldn’t be the only big man on the scouting report. He scored a career-high of 16 points, going 5-of-7 from the field. He even threw down two reverse dunks that looked like something from the Harlem Globetrotters.
Suemnick hit the boards hard as well, on both offense and defense. The West Virginia Mountaineers have struggled with rebounding the ball all season, especially while Edwards has been out with an injury. Suemnick plays with such hustle and intensity, that it seems rare that he won’t grab any ball that comes near him.
Not only is it exciting for Mountaineer fans to see someone step up to the plate like Suemnick has, but when Edwards does make his return, this duo could be lethal.
Takeaway #3: Put some respect on West Virginia’s name
I’ve seen a lot of West Virginia Mountaineers slander this past season. Some of it is warranted, but how much can you really expect from a team that has faced immense levels of adversity?
For this team, who has dealt with bench management issues all season, to come out and beat a top-25 Texas squad is almost miraculous. Especially when you take into account that Edwards is their best player and never saw the court.
There’s a ton of talent on this team, whether it’s Kerr Kriisa’s offense, Suemnick’s defense, or Raequan Battle’s all-around skill set. It may not always come through in the games, but player availability has a lot to do with that as well.
Should West Virginia be a top-25 contender? Not in the slightest. Do I see them making noise in March? Probably not. But to have a team come out and play with such heart and hustle, regardless of all those challenges is special. They could run away from the noise, but instead, the Mountaineers ran toward it.
Next game for West Virginia: at Oklahoma (Jan. 17 – 8 p.m.)
Next game for Texas: vs. UCF (Jan. 17 – 8 p.m.)