West Virginia defeated Bellarmine 62-58 in a low-energy game on Sunday night. Let’s take a look at some takeaways from the game as WVU prepares for St. John’s in the Big East-Big 12 Battle on Friday.
Any Win is a Good Win Right Now
West Virginia is going to take any win they can possibly get right now. The Mountaineers are still playing with eight available scholarship players as Kerr Kriisa (suspension), RaeQuan Battle (waiver) and Akok Akok (health) are all ineligible to play right now. West Virginia currently sits at 3-3 with wins over Missouri State (67-59), Jacksonville State (70-57) and Bellarmine (62-58) with losses to Monmouth (73-65), SMU (70-58) and Virginia (56-54).
As WVU waits for Kriisa to return to the floor, and potentially Battle and Akok, they are looking to stay afloat until then. Kriisa will return to play on Dec. 16 when West Virginia plays UMass in Springfield. Battle is currently going through potential legal action against the NCAA. Battle was denied his appeal last week and has stated that he will not stay quiet. Battle’s attorney is also talking with WV Attorney General Patrick Morrisey about the potential plans for Battle to immediately play. Akok’s timetable to return is unknown still after collapsing on the floor in the second half against George Mason on Oct. 27.
Ofri Naveh Shined Bright
WVU freshman forward Ofri Naveh was a bright spot for the Mountaineers on Sunday as he finished with a career-high of 10 points on 2-of-4 shooting. Naveh pulled down six rebounds in the win. Naveh also hit a crucial three-pointer with just a couple of minutes remaining in the game.
Naveh has looked like a raw prospect at times but has shown a lot of potential moving forward. Naveh is a 6-foot-6 guard and forward from Israel. Naveh has been able to check in minutes at the two, three and four positions for Josh Eilert early on. Just three games into his collegiate career, Naveh inserted himself into the starting lineup.
“I’m just trying to be a better player for my teammates,” Naveh said following the win. “If you get an opportunity you have to take it.”
Harris, Wilson Need to Get Out of Mental Slump
Josiah Harris and Seth Wilson have struggled to shoot the ball as of late, or have been conservative in the shots they take. In his last two games, Harris has scored zero points on 0-of-10 shooting. Harris, a sophomore forward out of Ohio, is shooting 22% in six games this year.
“I think he’s taking good threes, they’re going to fall. We as a coaching staff, we went through a lot of sets in shoot around and I think he was 10-for-10. I really do. He was making very shot. So I don’t know what flipped the switch when came game time,” Eilert said.
For Wilson, it has been not shooting the ball as much since being replaced in the starting lineup. In Wilson’s first two games, he shot the ball 26 times. In his last four games, Wilson has shot it 28 times. Eilert has mentioned that he has told Wilson that the team needs him to shoot the ball. Wilson is averaging 7.5 points on 35% shooting from deep this season.
WVU Basketball will host St. John’s on Friday night in Morgantown to try to get over .500.
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