Mountaineers Now Postgame Show: Buckeyes Top WVU in OT
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:10 It is the Mountiers Now post game show presented by Country Roads AirDuck
00:13 cleaning on Skylacon.
00:14 That is Christopher Hall live from Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse,
00:18 West Virginia falling to Ohio State 78 to 75.
00:21 In overtime in Cleveland, Rayquan Battle goes for 24 points and
00:26 10 rebounds Noah Farrakhan 19 points and Roddy Gale Jr.
00:30 Led the way for the Buckeyes with 32 points on the night.
00:34 Chris, let's just dive right into this one.
00:36 It seemed like it was gonna be a long night for the Mountiers at the start.
00:40 Kind of felt like it was gonna get away from them and
00:42 then they switched to that two three zone.
00:44 Ohio State can't solve it until the second half that allows West Virginia to climb
00:48 back within two at the half and they were able to kind of keep within arms length
00:52 distance all the way throughout the rest of the game.
00:56 >> Yeah, rebounding still continues to be an issue.
00:58 It's a big reason why they fell behind early.
01:01 I think Ohio State several times got three or
01:04 four second chance opportunities on one trip on the floor.
01:07 So I'll challenge them.
01:10 I think they were down minus 13 on rebounds at one point and
01:14 they ended up coming back only losing by one rebound when it was all said and done.
01:19 But you can just kind of go back to that and
01:24 it's a game of inches and you can look at how that over time,
01:28 how the final minutes and regulation went and they really could have won that game.
01:32 How they just rebounded early in the game and
01:37 it just kind of when you watch them rebound, it just looks like fundamentals.
01:41 Sometimes it looks like they're just blocking out themselves or
01:43 fighting amongst themselves.
01:45 They just need to find the opposing jersey and put a body on them.
01:49 It's really that simple at times.
01:50 So rebounding really is the key.
01:53 Neither team really shot the well until I say they went a perfect three for
01:57 three in overtime and that was really the difference in the final five minutes.
02:01 >> Yeah, West Virginia obviously continues to be hampered by Jesse Edwards' absence.
02:07 A cook a cook only had two points and four rebounds tonight.
02:10 But how about Pat Sumnick, the way he stepped up,
02:12 gave really good minutes on both ends of the floor for West Virginia.
02:15 >> Yeah, career high nine points, master career high five rebounds and
02:19 I steadily gained confidence would like to see a little bit of hands on him.
02:24 When he's in the paint and be ready for the ball, but he's someone that they really
02:28 got to lean on here in the next few weeks and
02:30 it looks like he's starting to accept that challenge.
02:33 And they're gonna need him.
02:35 It's not gonna get any easier from here.
02:36 High States, a good basketball team.
02:39 They fell short twice at the time.
02:43 That's what I guess one at the time was ranked opponent but
02:46 that may have been their best test.
02:48 I know Penn State got him out there playing against zone and
02:52 their coach credited that loss is why they won tonight is facing that adversity.
02:58 West Virginia, they're E3 players right now, all just started playing.
03:03 And that's really the difference with this group right now.
03:06 With between the two groups, you got one group that just started playing together.
03:08 And the other thing that's been playing all year and
03:10 been down that stretch together and they found a way to win at the end and
03:14 down there open guys and overtime.
03:16 And sometimes it's really that simple at this time of year and
03:19 a lot of these big games and these big matchups.
03:21 It just comes down to fundamentals and you don't have the fundamentals.
03:24 You're gonna find yourself on losing and more often than not.
03:27 >> Yeah, critical no call there at the end on Ray Quambada when he was shooting a
03:31 three, your thoughts on that and then also what you felt like
03:35 led to West Virginia kind of slipping up there in overtime.
03:38 >> Yeah, missed calls happen.
03:42 And that's why when you have opportunities and regulation like rebounding.
03:46 >> Yeah. >> Just get that stuff done.
03:48 Don't allow it.
03:49 >> Four offensive rebounds in one possession isn't gonna-
03:52 >> Don't allow them to do that and
03:56 don't allow and then calls like it won't come down to calls like that.
04:01 It's unfortunate that they missed that call.
04:04 But it's in your hands.
04:07 You can't go down 13 rebounds in the first half.
04:09 That's just bad.
04:10 That's bad basketball.
04:12 And I mean, really, bad calls are gonna happen.
04:16 If you're a Mountaineer fan, it feels like it always happens to you.
04:18 I'm sure high state fans when they left felt like they got the short end of the call.
04:23 But you can only take care of what you can take of and
04:25 I'm probably beating a dead horse, but you just gotta rebound.
04:28 Rebounding has been so atrocious all season long.
04:31 And it's like it takes a wake up call when they go down 10, 12 points and
04:35 they really put themselves in the bind if they would just do it the whole game.
04:39 They probably find themselves up against an Ohio State 10, 12 points.
04:43 So they played well against Toledo where they rebounded good enough.
04:49 But tonight in that second half, that's the kind of rebounding you need for
04:54 a full 40 minutes.
04:55 So hopefully they can take that tape, take that lesson and move forward.
04:59 Because if they don't fix the rebounding,
05:01 they're just gonna fall more heartbreaks like this.
05:05 Probably a lot more as the season goes on.
05:08 >> Absolutely, definitely a heartbreaker for West Virginia.
05:11 You feel like you need to get one of these under your belt here soon before
05:13 the season really slips away.
05:15 And yeah, Big 12 Conference starts now.
05:17 So it gets easier, right?
05:19 >> And they get to play at Houston, the number one net right in the country.
05:23 So yeah, it's not gonna get any easier anytime soon.
05:25 >> Four of the next five games for West Virginia against ranked opponents,
05:29 starting as you just mentioned, with Houston,
05:32 who is undefeated, one of the top teams in the country.
05:35 So that's not for another week.
05:36 That's a good thing.
05:37 Also for West Virginia, because that's another week where they can get Jesse
05:41 Edwards closer to coming back.
05:42 This is week two, that'll be week three.
05:44 And it's a four week recovery expected.
05:46 So we'll see if he can come back a few games into Big 12 play.
05:50 But right now, West Virginia, desperate for a win.
05:53 They'll look to get back on the right side of the column next Saturday when they
05:57 travel to Houston.
05:58 So that'll do it for us here tonight on the Mountaineers Now post game show.
06:02 West Virginia again falling 78 to 75 to the Buckeyes of Ohio State.
06:06 That's Christopher Hall.
06:07 I'm Skylar Count.
06:07 Make sure you hit that subscribe button on YouTube at Mountaineers Now and
06:10 give us a follow on X at the same handle.
06:13 We'll see you guys next week.
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