Mountaineers Now Postgame Show: WVU Defeats Bellarmine
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:09 Hello everyone and welcome into the Mountaineers now post game show presented
00:13 by Country Roads AirDuck cleaning take me home to comfort West Virginia.
00:16 Winners barely in this one tonight over Bellarmine 62 to 58.
00:22 A quick look here at the numbers Jesse Edwards another double double 17 points,
00:26 14 rebounds also not three blocks on the night.
00:30 Quince Lesinski 16 points, five boards and three assists and
00:34 then Peter Suter was a leading point getter for the Knights of Bellarmine with 19.
00:40 And West Virginia as a team shot three of 16 from three point range, but
00:44 they did get to the free throw line a whole bunch and they did make their hay there.
00:49 They went 17 of 21 and really the biggest difference here is,
00:54 at least for me it's one of the reoccurring themes with this team is they're not
00:58 really dominating teams on the glass and they're not doing well in the paint.
01:02 But I guess that's what happens when you only have one true center Jesse Edwards.
01:06 So again, West Virginia 62 Bellarmine 58.
01:10 >> Yeah, it was definitely one of those grind out games.
01:13 They didn't play with the same energy they did Fort Myers, which is expected.
01:18 Name on the front of the jersey isn't as big.
01:20 He kind of just did what they needed to do to win and
01:23 honestly you can't blame them.
01:25 They got they got Bambi racks and they got to play center guys tonight.
01:29 So it is kind of just one of those obviously it's gonna be one of
01:33 the seasons where every game is probably gonna come down to the final few minutes.
01:39 I know Bellarmine kind of got the one there late but
01:42 this game was never really in doubt.
01:44 You don't wanna leave teams like that.
01:46 Those are Bellarmine who's hitting some tough shots around the perimeter.
01:50 Don't leave a team like that hanging around but and
01:53 the same in the same breath you can't really blame them.
01:56 They're still Jesse Edwards is exhausted.
01:59 It's still November and he's absolutely exhausted.
02:03 Good play, a surprise really remind kind of a combination of a lot of players.
02:07 I think it's really his hair reminds me of Joe Alexander's offering the veil.
02:13 He is just he gets better and better each time out.
02:16 He had a career high 10 points tonight.
02:18 And I think really where he's improved the most is defensively.
02:22 He's not relying on his length, not reaching as much.
02:25 He really got he's starting to get his legs under him on the defensive end off.
02:29 Fensively, you'd like to see it.
02:31 He's steadily improving, but he's still a little wild on the offensive end.
02:37 But there's a kid man, he is just I would not be surprised if he's
02:41 averaging double figures in big 12 play the way he's improved.
02:46 This early portion of the season.
02:48 >> Yeah, free is a guy that they Sean plucked out of Israel,
02:52 like what late in July or August,
02:54 like something crazy deep into the summer months because they needed bodies.
02:59 And he's turned out to be a nice little fine for them.
03:02 And I think to over time he's gonna get better,
03:05 he's gonna be more of a consistent score.
03:07 And with the depth issues, I mean,
03:09 it's only gonna help that he's gonna see a ton of playing time.
03:12 He's gonna get a lot of starts and this is only gonna be good news for
03:16 him and his team a couple of years down the road.
03:19 But I would also say maybe a slight surprise offensively has been Kobe Johnson.
03:24 I mean, I know this is against lesser competition.
03:26 It's kind of been up and down, but he's made the most of this opportunity with
03:30 Kirk Cresa out being suspended the first nine games and tonight he had 13 points.
03:36 Five of 10 shooting, even though he's not much of a shot first guard or
03:41 shoot first guard, he is, I think a little bit better in that area this year in
03:45 terms of being more aggressive, part of which probably because he has to be.
03:50 >> Yeah, he's taking advantage of his size against these lesser teams.
03:55 That's exactly what you want all these players to do, take advantage of your
03:58 size, Jesse was getting hammered underneath again, a lot of double teams,
04:03 a lot of triple teams, but he kept his eyes up and found the open shooters.
04:07 Unfortunately, they didn't make them this evening.
04:09 But you're seeing progress with them playing within the post.
04:13 So final score is not gonna be great, but you're seeing little things that they can
04:18 build on that they've worked on, that they've struggled with.
04:21 And these first handful of games, so yes, it's kind of like, crap,
04:27 they only beat Bellarmine by four.
04:29 They've given every team that they played this season fits.
04:33 They only lost to Kansas State by eight.
04:34 I understand Kansas State isn't as good as they were last year, but
04:37 it's still a solid squad.
04:39 So it's just, we say it every time, this is just a work in progress.
04:44 It really is, and I think every time they just come out,
04:47 you just kinda, can they make it to the end?
04:50 Can they have enough strength to get them over the top in the final couple minutes
04:55 today against Bellarmine, they did.
04:57 Big one Friday against St.
04:58 John's, and they're gonna need every bit of that energy that they saved tonight,
05:02 come Friday.
05:02 >> Yeah, speaking of St.
05:05 John's, the Johnnies come in four and two, old Big East rival here in the Big East,
05:10 Big 12 battle, that one will tip off at seven o'clock on ESPN 2 this Friday.
05:15 So before we get out of here, just a quick thought on that game.
05:19 What needs to happen for West Virginia to hang around and have a chance to win it?
05:24 >> They're gonna have to win a lot of the 50/50 balls,
05:27 I know it's kind of contrasting.
05:28 [LAUGH] They haven't had a lot of stamina, a lot of energy, they're drained.
05:35 They're gonna have to win those, they're gonna have to play really tough defense,
05:37 and they're gonna have to shoot better than they've shot all season long.
05:41 And both halves of the game, so I don't think that's the game.
05:44 You don't wanna go down double digits, but if you thought they were gonna go down
05:49 double digits heading to Fort Myers, you would have thought they never had a chance,
05:51 but they did give themselves a chance.
05:53 So I think that they can stay within, keep it under double digits if they fall behind.
06:00 And just make your shots, be a little bit more efficient offensively.
06:04 Again, we're starting to see a little bit of that,
06:06 just need a little more consistency there.
06:08 So find some consistency offensively, play with great effort defensively, and
06:13 they should have a chance.
06:15 >> It's a big couple of games coming up here, Chris.
06:17 You got St. John's on Friday, and
06:19 then the backyard brawl next Wednesday against Pitt.
06:22 So two big opportunities for this team to maybe start to turn this season around,
06:28 as they get closer and closer to getting Kirk Creasa back from his suspension.
06:31 So again, West Virginia wins tonight 62 to 58 over the Bellarmine Knights.
06:36 And that is gonna wrap it up for us here on the Mountaineers Now post game show
06:40 presented by Country Roads Air Duct Cleaning.
06:42 Take me home to comfort for Christopher Hall.
06:44 I'm Skylar Callahan.
06:46 We thank you guys for tuning in.
06:47 We'll see you guys here on Friday night.
06:49 Take care.
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