What We've Learned About WVU Through 15 Games

Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

It was fair to question the top 10 preseason ranking. After the first game of the season, it would have been crazy to not question it. After all, many of the key pieces from the 2016-17 Big 12 runner-up and NCAA Sweet 16 season were gone.

There was no Nate Adrian coaching from the court. Tarik Phillip and Teyvon Myers weren't coming off the bench for scoring. Elijah Macon wasn't available to provide his signature bursts of energy. And, yes, Esa Ahmad would eventually play, but who knew where WVU would stand when he finally made it back?

But the team bounced back from that embarrassing opening loss to reel off 14 straight wins (the longest streak in the country), resulting in a likely #2 ranking when the polls come out later today. As I'm sure you've heard, that's the highest ranking WVU will have had since the Jerry West era, and it's been a heck of a journey to this point.

Jevon Carter Just Keeps Getting Better

Credit: AP Photo/Raymond Thompson

Through 12 games, senior point guard Jevon Carter was already putting up historic numbers. If you plugged his points, assists, rebounds, and steals per game into the statistics database, you would have seen that no one had ever reached the level he had in those four categories since they started tracking assists in the 1980s.

Games 13 and 14 were a step back, and it was discovered later that he suffered a sprained wrist against Oklahoma State. Even in a "down" performance, he managed to not only rack up 10 assists and eight rebounds against Kansas State, but he held his man scoreless from the floor on 0-10 shooting. All of this was setting up for a showdown with the best offensive player in the country: Oklahoma's Trae Young.

Young spent two hours being harassed by Carter and the rest of the Mountaineer defense. He was visibly flustered all game, and his frustration led to him forcing bad shot after bad shot. Young left Morgantown with a loss thanks to his worst shooting percentage, assist total, and turnover total for the season. Meanwhile, despite sitting for almost a full 10 minutes in the second half due to foul trouble (and at least one questionable call), Carter still managed 17 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds, and three steals. He surely would have had a 20/10/10 night if he was able to stay in the game.

The Rest of the Team Has Grown

The scariest thought going into the Oklahoma game was Carter getting into foul trouble and having to sit for an extended period. Only a few minutes into the second half, that thought became reality. Fortunately, the rest of the team picked up the slack. Not only did they not let Oklahoma take over the game, they actually built on the lead during the time Carter was out.

Sagaba Konate put up 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, along with a whopping five blocks. He was perfect from the free throw line, and all five of his made shots came while Carter was out.

Lamont West hit some big threes early, as well as knocking down an important long two and all of his free throws down the stretch on his way to 17 points.

Credit: Photo courtesy of WVU

The big story - as it has been since conference play started - was freshman Teddy Allen. Allen played 24 minutes and scored 20 points, shooting 82% from the field and going 2-2 at the line. He's now managed 57 points (19.0 points per game) in 59 minutes (19.7 minutes per game) during conference play, hitting 70.5% of his shots from the field and 90% from the stripe. His 0.996 points-per-minute mark in conference is even better than Trae Young's impressive 0.877. It's likely his playing time will continue to increase as the season progresses.

The Road Doesn't Get Any "Esa"-ier

While Esa Ahmad's return is great news, the next few weeks aren't going to get any easier. Baylor comes to town on Tuesday night, and Ahmad's return will coincide with what could be a top 10 road match up against the red-hot Red Raiders of Texas Tech on Saturday. Assuming WVU can get through those two battles, they'll be rewarded with facing a hungry (and talented) Kansas team for Big Monday two days later, followed by Texas, a road game at TCU, and back home for Kentucky. The last thing the Mountaineers want is to go on a 3-3 or 2-4 slide after the momentum gained from Saturday's win.

The other discussion surrounding the return of Ahmad is how he will be integrated into the game plan. Obviously he is one of the most physically gifted players on the roster, and he was the second leading scorer last year, so he will get minutes. However, the team has won 14 in a row with him on the bench, and there is something to be said for chemistry, especially for a group like this where "team" is the name of the game. The last thing Bob Huggins will want to do is disrupt something that has been working so well, but if anyone can make it a smooth transition, it's Coach Huggins.

Credit: Ben Queen, USA TODAY Sports

Predictions

The Baylor game should be a win. I think the Texas Tech game will be a hard-fought loss. The team should rebound and beat Kansas and Texas at home, as well as TCU on the road. That would put them at 18-2 (7-1) when Kentucky comes to town, and still in the top 10. My feeling is that Esa will be quiet in his return until the Kentucky game, and it will be that game where he comes to life again.

I hope I'm wrong about Texas Tech, and I hope I'm right about the rest. But there's one prediction I'm fully confident about: no one is going to want any part of the Mountaineers at full strength when March rolls around.