Takeaways from West Virginia's Exhibition Against Wheeling

The West Virginia Mountaineers handled the Wheeling Cardinals Sunday evening at the Hope Coliseum 80-54.

West Virginia senior center Harlan Obioha led all scorers with 19 points and pulled down a game-high eight points, while senior forward Brenen Lorient put in 14 points.

As expected, West Virginia was a little rough around the edges in the first contest in front of fans. It’s going to take a little time for this group to get comfortable competing with one another and within head coach Ross Hodge’s offense.

Taking a look at both ends of the floor, what came clear to me was the Mountaineers are not physical enough for Big 12 play, as of yet, but I believe they will be ready by January.

Defense

There’s a lot of work to be done on the defensive end. The good news is the effort and communication are there and the question becomes, how long is it going to take time to settle into this system.

The size of Obioha and the length of Lorient is noticeable. Having opponents shoot over a seven-footer and the length to shrink the passing lanes will prove beneficial.

The Mountaineers will need to increase their physicality along the perimeter moving forward.

Offense

West Virginia unselfishly moved the ball, although at times several Mountaineers could have taken their guy to the rim or had a good look from midrange and beyond, instead passed it to a teammate, which led to an ill-advised shot. It made the Mountaineers look timid at times, but I attribute it more to running and getting to know Hodge’s offense.

The Mountaineers also lacked physicality, especially around the rim. This is an area they will need to improve before opening Big 12 Conference action in January and, again, can be attributed to not playing full speed due to acclimating to the offense.

Guards Honor Huff and Treysen Eaglestaff are potential all-conference scorers. However, against Wheeling they deferred to their teammates. It feels as if these two are finding themselves within the offense, and when needed, will rise to the occasion.

Center Harlan Obioha has a nice touch around the rim and has good hands. The concern moving forward will be his strength when going up and over the Big 12 bigs, and he bring the ball down where the guards can swipe it away.

Brenen Lorient appears to be in the early running as the x-factor for this group.

Overall

The only thing needed out this exhibition was for the Mountaineers to come out of the game healthy, which they did. I’m not putting too much stock into this game. Once the stakes are higher, I believe you will see a different product on the court, starting next week against Mount St. Mary’s on Tuesday. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. EST.