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(Author's Note: This is out much later than I'd like. Apologies.)
We're back for another edition of Mountaineer Retweet and hopefully this one ends up being a little bit less depressing than last Monday's K-State edition. This week, the Mountaineers had a pair of rematches on the docket: one at home against Tubby Smith's Red Raiders of Texas Tech and a road trip to Stillwater to try to avenge the devastating loss to the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Let's check in on Twitter and see how they went.
Texas Tech (1/22):
"@DOBIEST: I’m 200 percent sure a reporter is going to ask Huggins about tonight’s attendance." I'm 200 percent sure I'll drop kick them
— Fake Bob Huggins (@FakeBobHuggins) January 23, 2014
Attendance tonight not as bad as Texas last year, with a big snowstorm to boot, but still rough. Tipoff is moments away #WVU
— Marc Basham (@marc_b) January 23, 2014
Okay, let's be honest. Attendance was god awful. However, Morgantown was even more god awful this week. Snowmageddon hit us where it hurts this week and those in charge of keeping Morgantown's roads relatively drivable were . . . mediocre, to say the least.
/stops angry rant about roads before it starts
The moral here is that while I'm normally one that gets preachy over bad attendance, I'm leaning towards letting this one slide. Get out for K-State next week, though, people!
Another 3 from Eron Harris out of the media timeout. 14-6 lead for the Mountaineers as he now has 9 points.
— WVU IMG Sports (@WVUIMGSports) January 23, 2014
YAY WE'RE GOOD AGAIN!
We started out this game red hot from three and suddenly basketball was fun again as the 12 people at the Coliseum waved their pennants and cheered enthusiastically for 3RON Harris.
I believe that might have been Eron Harris's man.
— SmithFire13 (@SmithFire13) January 23, 2014
I think that was Eron Harris' guy.
— Brian Gawthrop (@gawthrop5) January 23, 2014
Eron Harris appears to have lost his man.
(This are included solely because they showed up on my feed in perfect sync and it was funny.)
#Analysis
#WVU made four threes in each of its last two games. The Mountaineers have made six through the first eight minutes tonight.
— Michael Carvelli (@Carvelli3) January 23, 2014
DUMPTRUCKING IN PROGESS.
WARM UP THE BUSSES.
GENERIC STATEMENT ABOUT HOW WE'RE GOING TO RUN A TRAIN ON TEXAS TECH AND EVERYONE'S GOING TO BE HAPPY AGAIN.
Find the shooter. #WVU has left guys that can knock threes down open and the Red Raiders now on a 16-0 run and have a 26-20 lead.
— Keenan Cummings (@rivalskeenan) January 23, 2014
I hate life.
Does #WVU basketball get an olympic break?
— SmithFire13 (@SmithFire13) January 23, 2014
I'm sure there's a really clever Kevin Noreen/Curling joke here but I'm too lazy to think up a good one.
Devin Williams working on his 6th double-double of the year. Has 6 points and 7 rebounds a few minutes ahead of halftime.
— WVU IMG Sports (@WVUIMGSports) January 23, 2014
Devin Williams is having a nice game. Too bad he just committed his second 25-feet-from-the-basket foul. #WVU trails TTU 31-30, 3:52
— Dave Hickman (@dphickman1) January 23, 2014
The Freshman giveth, the Freshman taketh away.
Still, #WVU leads at halftime, 40-39, after blowing an 11-point lead and recovering from a 6-point deficit.
— Dave Hickman (@dphickman1) January 23, 2014
#positives
And with that pass five feet over Watkins's head, Nathan Adrian just climbed Dana's depth chart and will be the #1 QB in Spring drills.
— Fake Bob Huggins (@FakeBobHuggins) January 23, 2014
A 6'9, 230 QB would be pretty cool. I bet he has decent arm strength and being a good three point shooter could help with accuracy in theory. Jarrett Brown did both sports so I mean I guess it's possible....
NO MATT DON'T LET A FAKE COACH TWITTER ACCOUNT LEAD YOU INTO LEGITIMATELY BELIEVING THAT NATHAN ADRIAN IS OUR BEST QB OPTION NEXT YEAR.
Moving along.
Terry Henderson has 10 points this half, now 18 for the game, as WVU leads 54-47 with 15:44 remaining. #HailWV
— WVU Men's Basketball (@WVUhoops) January 23, 2014
This is about the point at which Terry Henderson put on his Iron Man suit and starting destroying everything in sight. Texas Tech might not be the greatest opponent, but what Terry did on Wednesday night was wonderful. It's great to see him play with confidence, because when that confidence is there he thinks he can hit any shot in the building and sometimes he's right.
Dusty Hannahs cuts into WVU's lead. Now a 59-57 game after back-to-back 3s. He has 19 points and is 5-of-5 from 3 (6-of-6 for game).
— WVU IMG Sports (@WVUIMGSports) January 23, 2014
TERRTHREE VS DUSTHREE.
(why did i type that oh my god it's going to be on the internet forever that is going to be my legacy)
Weird phenomenon going on right now: Texas Tech continues to keep getting close and #WVU hits a three to keep the two possession lead.
— SmithFire13 (@SmithFire13) January 23, 2014
This is the most annoying thing in the world when you're the team it's happening to.
Wisconsin, Gonzaga, Purdue, and Oklahoma State did it to us. We did it to Texas Tech on Wednesday.
#WVU now with a 75-67 lead with 5:55 left. Kevin Noreen with a couple clutch hustle plays last couple minutes.
— Keenan Cummings (@rivalskeenan) January 23, 2014
Good for Big Sweat. Those are the plays that make him valuable to this basketball team, and frankly, the plays that he just hasn't been making this season.
Hopefully he can use this game as a jumping off point to a strong finish, because like it or not, no one has seized the opportunity to take over his minutes.
Both teams have hit 11 3-pointers. Both are shooting over 60% from beyond the arch.
— WVU IMG Sports (@WVUIMGSports) January 23, 2014
For a game between two bad teams, this ended up being pretty fun for those of us who enjoy offense. WVU never had the shooting drought that I feared was inevitable (I texted Smitty after that I felt like this was the kind of game we'd lose because we'd inevitably miss 15 straight threes somewhere in the middle of the game), and that let us keep the lead against a scrappy Texas Tech squad.
WVU WINS 87 to 81
— WVU Men's Basketball (@WVUhoops) January 23, 2014
Yay! The Mountaineers gutted it out and got back to .500 in conference play. Rainbows and Unicorns for everyone!!
*pours stiff drink* MT @Carvelli3: Not much time to savor this one. Eight of WVUs next nine games are against ranked teams.
— Fake Bob Huggins (@FakeBobHuggins) January 23, 2014
Presented without comment.
Oklahoma State (1/25):
Underway at Historic Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater #HailWV #WVU pic.twitter.com/5dfHNyJa3n
— WVU IMG Sports (@WVUIMGSports) January 25, 2014
And here we go. The Mountaineers last "toughest road test to date" went....poorly. Let's see if they've regained some pride and are ready to battle like the team that played Oklahoma State in Morgantown.
Scouting today's #WVU #OKState game for the Golden State Warriors: Jonnie West. pic.twitter.com/XZ08ZTN2LB
— Geoff Coyle (@GFCoyle) January 25, 2014
Jonnie West probably would have had a 27 point game if played against WVU, rather than for us.
Dusty Hannahs effect, or something.
Kevin Noreen picks up his 2nd foul nearly 3 minutes gone in the 1st half.
— WVU IMG Sports (@WVUIMGSports) January 25, 2014
Welpity-welp. After praising Big Sweat's efforts late against Texas Tech, I hope he had turned a corner for the year and would get back to being a solid, fundamentally sound contributor.
This did not happen against the Pokes.
This is the third straight game #WVU has started well. At KSU then collapsed and never recovered, vs. TTU collapsed and then rallied.
— Dave Hickman (@dphickman1) January 25, 2014
This is a pattern. Not being able to keep their foot on the gas could be a trait of a young team, but frankly, it's getting old to use that excuse over and over against despite how true it may or may not be. They've gotta learn to keep up with their own quick starts and not stall out halfway through the first half.
All the #WVU big men have 2 fouls. This ain't good yo
— SmithFire13 (@SmithFire13) January 25, 2014
#ThisAintGoodYo
This really isn't good, yo.
7:56 and #WVU leads OSU 23-17. Travis Ford is so mad he's put in a walk-on who has played 40 minutes all year.
— Dave Hickman (@dphickman1) January 25, 2014
LOL, Travis Ford. Who plays walk-ons in close conference games?
Seriously.
That's so stupid.
Why is Tyrone Hughes in the game?
— Leland Reed (@BigCheese100) January 25, 2014
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(okay it's because gary browne had three fouls and we were desperate but this worked too well)
Is Marcus Smart really a great leader? I just haven’t seen it. He looks like a mess right now.
— Tony Dobies (@DOBIEST) January 25, 2014
Marcus Smart is kicking chairs on the bench and walking around in the tunnel and somehow avoids a technical after his theatrics?
— Keenan Cummings (@rivalskeenan) January 25, 2014
Smart kicked the chair not once, but TWICE and stormed off like he was going to the locker room. Refs did nothing, announcers said nothing.
— Chris Anderson (@CMAnderson247) January 25, 2014
Oh, Marcus Smart. You lost a ton of my respect in this game. If you want to be a great NBA point guard, you have to lead by example, and Smart didn't show me a lot in that department in this game. And, it does annoy me that the Refs and announcers did nothing (for more or less, the entire game) in response to his antics. It's just not a good look for someone as talented as Smart.
Need to take care of ball here because it looks like Cowboys are shaking off the cobwebs ... Doing this without Smart too
— John Antonik (@JohnAntonik) January 25, 2014
Ugh. Again. We let this happen, again.
When the opponent's best player goes to the bench in foul trouble, that's when you make your big run. This is another emerging bad habit of this team. We can't seize moments like this where games are won or lost.
This feels like almost the exact same game as a few weeks ago in Morgantown.
— Tony Dobies (@DOBIEST) January 25, 2014
This is pretty much true, and it could be a good thing, honestly. We're competing against a very strong team on their home court. It's much better than the effort we showed in the Octagon of Doom, at least. There's a possibility at this point that we go into the half with either a tie or a slight lead in Gallagher-Iba.
And Oklahoma State just embarrasses #WVU right before half. Back-to-back dunks and up 42-35 on 'Eers now. 10-0 run to finish half.
— Chris Anderson (@CMAnderson247) January 25, 2014
i can't even analyze what just happened here but there were a lot of dunks and a lot of sadness
58 seconds in and Harris has a 3 and his third fouls for #WVU
— Dave Hickman (@dphickman1) January 25, 2014
/tries to comment
/whistle blows, interrupting thought process
This will be a second half theme, you guys.
Love the way we responded to start the half. Let's keep it going.
— Country Roads (@CountryRoadsWV) January 25, 2014
The apocalyptic end to the first actually didn't crush us. We came out strong in the second half and got right back into the game. I'm glad to see a return to the battling ways of this Mountaineer basketball team. The team that showed up against Texas and K-State would have packed it in and lost by infinity.
...
I'm allowed to have hyperbole, it's my article.
And because the WVU sports machine runs on the fuel of our collective broken hearts, they've tied it up. A blowout would have been too easy.
— Brandon Priddy (@abpriddy) January 25, 2014
This isn't foreshadowing at all.
markel brown just dunked the living bejeezus out of a ball
— martin rickman (@martinrickman) January 25, 2014
Yeeeeeeeeeah, that dunk by Markel Brown is probably number two behind MJ's half court dunk from Space Jam in the list of all time dunks.
It was really awesome. Markel Brown hates us.
Phil Forte's 1st made 3 (1-of-6 on the day) ties the game at 54. Timeout WVU with 10:25 left.
— WVU IMG Sports (@WVUIMGSports) January 25, 2014
The Dusty Hannahs Effect actually wasn't active for the Pokes. We dodged a bullet here, because this is the first time in four games that Phil Forte hasn't eviscerated us from three.
Eron Harris nails two 3s and right on cue he fouls out. 21 points for #WVU, Mountaineers trail 72-67 with 3:35 left.
— Geoff Coyle (@GFCoyle) January 25, 2014
There were officiating issues in this game, and I don't want to go into them in depth because it's been done to death at this point. Harris fouling out at this point probably costs us any chance of getting this upset. He had the hot hand, and basically single-handedly willed us back into this thing. He played a great all around game. Not having him for the stretch run was brutal.
Behold the glory of B12Refs RT @GottliebShow: How is that a foul on Eron Harris? What a joke of officiating #Eers vs #Pokes @franfraschilla
— Brandon Priddy (@abpriddy) January 25, 2014
Okay one last officiating note.
DOUG GOTTLEIB WAS ON OUR SIDE ABOUT SOMETHING.
DOUG GOTTLEIB.
Okay I'm done.
WVU falls to No. 11 Oklahoma State, 81-75.
— WVU Men's Basketball (@WVUhoops) January 25, 2014
Well @MKirchner12 the good news is they stopped regressing. We're back to "good but not good" enough status.
— Brandon Priddy (@abpriddy) January 25, 2014
The Father of the Retweet sums this up better than I could here. We're back to the beginning with this team. Good enough to beat the teams we should, but not good enough to beat teams we shouldn't. We're good enough to hang with them on a good day, but just can't finish. It's frustrating, but it's the reality that we have to deal with. Two more opportunities for quality wins are on the docket this week, at Baylor in Waco and a home rematch with Kansas State.
Until then, keep tweeting and Let's Go Mountaineers!