If there was any thought in West Virginia that starting Big 12 play might be to the Mountaineers' advantage, that quickly disappeared Saturday in a game against No. 3 Houston at the Fertitta Center.
The Cougars controlled the game from the start and never trailed, building a 26-point halftime lead and building from there into an 89-55 victory over the Mountaineers.
“We saw it last year at Texas and it almost felt like we ran into a buzz saw,” WVU interim head coach Josh Eilert said of the second Mountaineers' back-to-back loss in conference opener. “You have to understand what you can learn and learn quickly, then move on. We play a good Kansas State team at home (Tuesday) that I think we can beat, but we have to be more disciplined. We have to take our game plan from the practice field to the playing field and we executed our game plan poorly.
Houston (14-0, 1-0 Big 12) got off to a hot start in its conference opener and used the first of LJ Cryer's four three-pointers in the first half to lead 5-0, while as the Baylor transfer connected again from long range moments later to extend the Cougars' advantage to 14-7.
While Cryer and Houston continued to excel offensively, the Mountaineers (5-9, 0-1) proved incapable of making weight and trailed 20-10 midway through the first half.
“The ball moved pretty well early and we had some good looks, but they didn’t fall in love with us,” Eilert said. “It can be paralyzing.”
A conventional three-point play by Cougars guard Emanuel Sharp left WVU facing a 13-point deficit, and although Kerr Kriisa countered with a three-pointer for the Mountaineers, they were never able to bring the deficit back in single digits for the rest of the match.
Instead, a layup by Ramon Walker Jr. and two by Ja'Vier Francis made the score 29-13, while a triple by Sharp 5:33 before halftime left Virginia- Occidentale led 32-15.
Houston continued to expand its lead and scored eight straight points at the end of the first half for a 27-point advantage, before Akok Akok split two free throws for the halftime margin.
WVU wing RaeQuan Battle, who scored 82 points in his first three appearances as a Mountaineer, was scoreless on 0-of-5 shooting in the first half.
The Cougars' biggest lead came at 68-29, before WVU put together its best stretch in a forgettable performance, outscoring Houston 10-2 in 2:42. WVU's first eight points in that stretch came on free throws, including four from Josiah Harris, and ended with a Noah Farrakhan layup following a turnover.
It was one of the few easy baskets for West Virginia, which made 18 of 56 shots and just 4 of 23 from three-point range. Outside of reserve Pat Suemnick, who scored a team-high 12 points, the Mountaineers shot 12-for-48.
Farrakhan was the Mountaineers' second-leading scorer with nine points.
Harris had six paintings and Sumenick added five.
“Pat did a good job coming in and giving us some energy late and I'm going to have to reward him for the way he played,” Eilert said. “He played with a sense of urgency and I kept telling them to pick up the pace and try to get something easy downhill because once they got that half court , they're as good as anyone in the country at half-court defense and they've proven it.
Cryer's 20 points were a game-high. Damian Dunn added 14 in the win and Francis scored 13 on 6-of-8 shooting.
Sharp recorded a game-best seven rebounds and Houston's Jamal Shead had 11 of the game's 26 assists.
The Cougars outscored WVU 48-20 in the paint and finished with just five turnovers in an efficient offensive effort that included 53 percent shooting and a 9-for-18 effort from three.
Houston won the battle of the boards, 40-34.
“I was worried about the physicality and the way they're playing is by no means a good matchup for us,” Eilert said. “We rebounded better than I thought, but they made shots. I talked early and even at halftime about the ball sticking. They did a really good job in those traps and we have to get out, and then the ball sticks. We have to take advantage of what they give us and we weren't doing that. As soon as we got out of that ball screen cover, he stayed. We need to make teams pay when they do this. They didn't need to make any adjustments because we weren't just another pass.