Morgantown, West Virginia – When Oscar Tshiebwe left the West Virginia Mountaineers back in December, many thought that his departure would mean the end to West Virginia’s chances of making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament in March.
However, the Mountaineers have actually become a better, more versatile team without him. While the team has only gone 6-4 in the past ten games, they have faced a brutal schedule with six of the ten games being against Top 25 teams.
Tshiebwe was a talented defender and rebounder, but he was a major liability offensively. As pointed out moments ago by ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla, the Mountaineers are now a top ten team in the nation in offensive efficiency.
With Tshiebwe, West Virginia shot 32.1% from three point range. Since he’s left, the Mountaineers are shooting 40.3%.
This is largely due to better spacing with only one big man in the lineup at a time. Tshiebwe and Culver playing together was a disaster. Culver sans Tshiebwe is far more productive and has become a real force in the paint in the past ten games.
In last 10 games since Tsheibwe left, @WVUhoops is shooting 40.3 from 3 on 9.2 makes a game. With O, Mountaineers shot 32.1%. The smaller lineup is why WVU now No.10 in Offensive Efficiency. Culver harder to guard with space. Not necessarily a better team but different, for sure.
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) February 18, 2021
While Fraschilla went on to say that the Mountaineers are “not necessarily a better team but rather a different team”, it’s clear that the current players are more motivated now and all of the players on the team have bought in to what the coaches expect from them.
West Virginia with Oscar Tshiebwe was a team that was not going to make any noise in the NCAA Tournament. Now, the Mountaineers are versatile and primed to make a deep run in March.
