Hokies Overmatched by No. 19 West Virginia, Fall 88-63

The game plan is largely the same for any team headed into a matchup — or better yet, a brawl — with a Bob Huggins'-coached team. Take care of the basketball and rebound, and you'll give yourself a chance to win.

Easier said than done.

The Hokies learned that lesson the hard way for a second-straight year on Wednesday as they committed 22 turnovers and were thoroughly dominated on the boards on their way to a 88-63 loss at a sold-out Cassell Coliseum.

West Virginia's vaunted defense entered the afternoon forcing 21.9 turnovers per game, the highest mark in the nation. The Mountaineer's intimidating style was on full display from the opening tip as they hounded the Hokies up and down the court with their trademark full-court press, forcing the young Hokies' guards into mistake after mistake.

The battle on the boards, much to the chagrin of head coach Buzz Williams, turned out to be more of a mauling than a battle. The Mountaineers — led by forwards Jonathan Holton and Devin Williams — managed to pull in 18 rebounds on offense alone while the Hokies hauled in just 24 in total.

It was somehow reminiscent of Tuesday evening's Russell Athletic Bowl, an offensive shootout that featured a quarterback-less Baylor team rush for an astounding 645 yards against a hapless North Carolina defense. The Tar Heels knew exactly what was coming, just as the Hokies did, but neither could do anything about it.

With Chris Clarke sidelined after undergoing surgery for a broken foot, Williams was forced to alter his rotation. The 2nd-year head coach appeared to want to go big against a physical West Virginia team as he started the game with both Kerry Blackshear and Zach LeDay in the lineup, but early first-half foul trouble to nearly all of the Hokies' bigs forced Williams to go small at times. Jalen Hudson, who figured to see more playing time after Clarke went down, played just 21 minutes as Williams opted to give Devin Wilson, Justin Robinson, and Justin Bibbs the lion's share of playing time in the backcourt. Hudson was productive in his limited time as he finished with 9 points, but the sophomore guard will need to make a concerted effort to attack the glass if he hopes to fill Clarke's void.

With Blackshear in early foul trouble, Satchel Pierce had an opportunity to make an impact against West Virginia's talented frontcourt. But aside from two easy buckets that essentially fell in the seven-footer's lap, Pierce was a non-factor and simply couldn't keep up with the athletic Mountaineers' bigs on either side of the floor. The story on fellow big Johnny Hamilton was largely the same, paving the way for Shane Henry to see more playing time in the second half.

The nearly forgotten Henry took full advantage of his opportunity as he tallied 12 points and 4 rebounds in just 16 minutes. Granted, much of Henry's production came when the game was already well out of reach, but Williams was undoubtedly pleased to see some semblance of energy from his frontcourt.

Zach LeDay pitched in 11 points and 9 rebounds, but the undersized big man clearly struggled with the inside presence of the Mountaineers and his offensive efficiency suffered for the second straight game.

Seth Allen played just 18 minutes after picking up his third foul with more than five minutes to play in the first half, but the junior transfer still managed to reach double-digit scoring for the ninth straight game.

A Few Quick Thoughts

After being dominated so thoroughly by a clearly superior team, it's tough to walk away with any real takeaways, but I'll do my best.

The absence of Chris Clarke was palpable. Clarke had been up-and-down through the first third of the season, but there's no questioning his value to the Hokies, especially on the glass where Clarke had averaged 7.4 rebounds per game. West Virginia clearly wasn't the ideal opponent to begin adjusting to playing without Clarke, but the Hokies will need to figure out how to replace the dynamic freshman soon as ACC play approaches.

Foul trouble really hurt the Hokies, but there shouldn't be any griping over the officials — each team finished with 30 fouls. Seth Allen picking up two silly fouls in the first half hurt the most, as the junior guard had been effective early in beating the Mountaineers off the dribble, a necessity to make a high-ball pressure team back off just a tad. Foul trouble in the frontcourt hurt as well, but none of the Hokies' bigs could have hurt the Mountaineers' defense like Allen.

The Zach LeDay we're seeing now is probably more aligned to what LeDay really is as a player. LeDay's endless motor will always show up in the box score in some manner, but the undersized forward will struggle going up against Power 5 frontcourts. Early in the season, LeDay benefited from opponent's four-guard lineups that often matched him up with a 6'3" guard. Now as the conference season begins, LeDay likely won't be turning in consistent double-doubles (and Williams admitted as much early on in the season).

The road doesn't get any easier for the Hokies with N.C. State (10-3) coming to town on Saturday to kick off ACC play. And as if that wasn't enough, No. 5 Virginia comes to Cassell next Monday. If the Hokies hope to avoid an 0-2 start to league play, they'll need to improve on both ends of the floor, and they'll need to do it fast.