Five Thoughts on OSU’s Loss to West Virginia

BOX SCORE

1. Tavarius Shine started red hot

Shine finished up the game with 12 after starting the game 4-for-4 in the first half. He finished with 12 after going cold in the second, but he’s been a big boost offensively after coming out of a mid-season slump. There was belief Carroll would return to take his starting spot back, but the combination of Carroll’s continued illness and Shine’s hot shooting, Shine took advantage once again of his opportunity.

2. Turnovers were back breaking

Turnovers are difficult to overcome for obvious reasons, but when they did turnover they became completely out of sorts. Rather than turning it over and moving on, one turnover lead to a flurry and the team just seemed totally lost offensively for long stretches. They finished the game with 19 total turnovers but went into the break with 17. They made some adjustments at half that helped them, but trying to overcome such a big back breaker is difficult – and really cut them at the knees in big stretches of the game.

3. The development of Joe Burton is fantastic

Burton finished with 12 off the bench and could really be a big off-the-bench threat for a team looking to make a run in March. This team isn’t quite primed for that, obviously, but his development as a shooter as well as his increased aggressiveness on both sides of the ball is very encouraging.

4. OSU was outmatched

Going back to the discussion about not having enough horses, it was particularly evident once again on Saturday night. They have some nice horses who, unfortunately, are riding the pine with injury. 10 players saw the floor, including Igor Ibaka. But OSU’s bench players are just flat out not good enough to be competing at this level, Ibaka and Allen especially.

5. Rebounding and effort go hand in hand

West Virginia out-rebounded the Cowboys 42-25, and the second chance opportunities were momentum killers, including a final first half sequence that gave them multiple opportunities that lead to them knocking down a buzzer beater. The Mountaineers out-hustled and, most discouragingly, out-mechaniced them down the stretch. Blocking out and finding the ball were big issues, and those fundamentals, along with turnovers, turned out to be major problems.

Next up: OSU @ Iowa State Monday at 6:00pm