The Good & Not So Good from Exhibition vs Wheeling

The new era of WVU men’s basketball under head coach Ross Hodge will officially begin on November 4th. However, on the last Sunday of October, the Mountaineers had an exhibition matchup against D2 Wheeling at the Hope Coliseum. West Virginia was victorious by a final score of 80-54. For starters, independent of the outcome, it was good to see the new-look Mountaineers take the floor. With the start of the season just days away, there is a healthy buzz in Morgantown surrounding the men’s basketball program. Let’s assess the performance of the team. The GoodHarlan ObiohaIf there was one notable mismatch heading into the game, it was West Virginia 7-footer Harlan Obioha matching up with a much smaller Wheeling team. In 19 minutes played, Obioha had his way with 19 points and 8 rebounds while shooting 8-of-9 from the floor. The only thing he didn’t do particularly well was shoot free throws, making just 3-of-7 attempts from the stripe. Certainly, this will be something to monitor as the season progresses. Obioha is a 62.9% free-throw shooter in his career. Jasper Floyd’s Pace and Control While his stats weren’t jaw-dropping, in just 20 minutes played, you could tell just how important Jasper Floyd will be to the team’s success this season. As the starting point guard with one year of experience in Ross Hodge’s system at North Texas, Floyd controls the pace and holds the keys to the offense. His veteran leadership will be vital this season; you could see it even in the small sample size against Wheeling.Brenen Lorient’s VersatilityIf you have kept up with the WVU basketball program throughout the off-season, you’ve likely heard about Brenen Lorient’s impressive athleticism for a 6’9 forward. It was on display against Wheeling. Lorient looked rather comfortable on both ends of the floor. He posted 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal in 25 minutes while making 7 of his 9 shot attempts. The Not So GoodTurnovers West Virginia turned the ball over 13 times, and honestly, it felt like even more. While it is common for turnovers to be higher in October scrimmages and November non-conference matchups, this sloppy play is a bit of a concern for WVU. There were a couple of spurts in this game where Wheeling took advantage of West Virginia’s struggles offensively and defensively. Wheeling began the second half on a run of their own, forcing Hodge to call a timeout in the first few minutes. In one sense, this is why you play these exhibition games as you work out the kinks for an entirely new roster. Hopefully, West Virginia will be able to seal things up over the next week of practice and play a cleaner game in the season opener. Treysen Eaglestaff Struggling in a New Role?Make no mistake about it, Treysen Eagelstaff was “the guy” for the North Dakota team last year. Not only did he average 18.9 points per game, he had 149 more shot attempts than the next closest on the team. Now, at West Virginia, he is surrounded by high-level talent and may see his shot attempts decrease due to the balance of the roster. No, we’re not going to blow things out of proportion after a Sunday exhibition in October, but watching how Eaglestaff finds himself in this offense will be something to monitor. He had limited ball-handling opportunities in his 23 minutes played, making just 1 of his 7 3-point attempts, and he did not attempt a shot inside the arc.