Washington, D.C. – The West Virginia Mountaineers won a surprisingly tough game tonight against the 1-2 Georgetown Hoyas to move to 4-1 on the season. Here are how all West Virginia players graded for the game and for the season so far:
Starters:
Miles McBride – This was Deuce’s best, most complete game of the season so far. McBride took control of the game in the second half and was the reason the Mountaineers went on a 13-2 late. Stats: 17 points, 7 assists, 7 rebounds (5-9 FG, 2-3 3PT) Game Grade: A+, Season Grade: A
Sean McNeil – McNeil must be a good shooter because he wouldn’t be playing otherwise, but he has really struggled with consistency through the first five games. Shooting off balance and forcing shots has become a norm for McNeil early in the season. He’s 2-15 from the field and 1-9 from three point range in the last two games. Stats: 7 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists (1-6 FG, 0-3 3PT) Game Grade: D-, Season Grade: D
Emmitt Matthews, Jr. – Matthews was active on both ends of the floor tonight and had his best game of the season as well. If Matthews continues to play above the rim offensively and remains active defensively, he belongs in the starting lineup. Stats: 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists (5-11 FG, 1-4 3PT) Game Grade: B+, Season Grade: C-
Oscar Tshiebwe – Another peculiar performance by Oscar Tshiebwe. He stills looks uneasy under the basket and lost most of the game. Tshiebwe spent a majority of today’s game with his hands thrown up in disbelief at the calls of the referees. He continues to get into early foul trouble and never really looked like he was a major part of this game. Stats: 9 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assists (3-6 FG, 0-0 3PT) Game Grade: C-, Season Grade: C
Derek Culver – Culver seemed to struggle with Georgetown’s bigs tonight and was once again in early foul trouble. Although he was out for a large part of the first half, he still almost had a double-double in limited minutes. Stats: 14 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist (5-12 FG, 0-0 3PT) Game Grade: B-, Season Grade: B+
Reserves:
Taz Sherman – Taz continues to shine off the bench and he should be in the starting lineup. He is West Virginia’s best pure scorer right now and is an upgrade on defense over Sean McNeil as well. Stats: 12 points, 1 rebound, 0 assists (4-9 FG, 1-1 3PT) Game Grade: B+, Season Grade: A
Jalen Bridges – From all the preseason hype surrounding Bridges, I expected more from Bridges. He’s very shaky when he’s in the game and pretty much just stands in the corner for open, uncontested three point shots. Tonight, he finally hit one! Stats: 3 points, 1 rebound, 0 assists (1-2 FG, 1-2 3PT) Game Grade: C+, Season Grade: D
Isaiah Cottrell – Cottrell is on the cusp of great things with the Mountaineers, but he has a lot of work to do to be a real contributor. Offensively, he’s settling for outside shots instead of using his big frame under the basket. Defensively, he looks lost most of the time. Stats: 0 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assists (0-4 FG, 0-2 3PT) Game Grade: D, Season Grade: C-
Gabe Osabuohien – Quiet, unproductive game tonight for West Virginia’s most consistent player so far this season. Stats: 0 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist (0-2 FG, 0-0 3PT) Game Grade: C-, Season Grade A-
Jordan McCabe – After starting the season 0-5 from the field and looking out-matched most of the time, McCabe looked like he belonged tonight. Played very important, key minutes from the Mountaineers’ veteran guard. Stats: 5 points, 1 assist, 4 rebounds (2-3 FG, 1-2 3PT) Game Grade: A, Season Grade: C
Kedrian Johnson – Johnson played briefly and didn’t record any stats. Stats: 0 points, 0 assists, 0 rebounds (0-0 FG, 0-0 3PT) Game Grade: C, Season Grade: F
