College basketball Week 7: 5 biggest takeaways
By Chris Stone
West Virginia’s defense continues to put up ridiculous numbers
The Mountaineers continued their old ways this week by picking up a pair of wins over subpar competition. They forced 29 turnovers against Radford on Tuesday before creating 25 against Northern Kentucky. West Virginia has now forced 315 turnovers this season, which equates to one on 35.0 percent of opponents’ possessions, by far the highest mark in the country (Fordham ranks second at 29.6 percent).
This West Virginia team, though, is a bit different than past iterations. On the positive side of the coin, the Mountaineers are fouling at a much lower rate than in prior seasons. In 2015-16, they ranked dead last in defensive free throw rate out of 351 Division I teams. That’s a lot of free points for opponents against their usually stingy defense. This season, though, West Virginia is 215th. Sure, that’s still several trips to the foul line, but by reducing the number of trips, the Mountaineers are making it increasingly difficult for opponents to score.
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On the negative side, West Virginia has stumbled on the defensive boards. Last season, opponents rebounded just 27.1 percent of their misses. This year, that number is up to 33.9 percent. That shouldn’t be a surprise given that the Mountaineers lost both Devin Williams and Jonathan Holton, their two best defensive rebounders. Despite the increased number of second chance opportunities, West Virginia continues to be one of the nation’s best defenses.