Bob Huggins reveals how West Virginia blew early lead vs. Maryland

West Virginia was disposed of unceremoniously by Maryland 67-65 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and head coach Bob Huggins didn’t have any excuses when speaking to the media after the loss.

Huggins revealed that his team’s 12 turnovers and 24 fouls were the foundation for what turned out to be a heartbreaking end to the Mountaineers’ season. It hurts a little worse knowing they had a 13-point lead at one point.

“We were a little careless with the ball and they made shots. They made shots,” Huggins said postgame. “They started backing us in. We didn’t match up very well with them when they started matching us in — or backing us in, rather. It wasn’t a good matchup for us.”

Kedrian Johnson scored a game-high 27 points, and Tre Mitchell complemented him with 13 points of his own. For Maryland, the Terrapins had four starters finish with double figures and scored all but five of their points. The larger rotation of WVU and fresher bodies didn’t do anything to help the Mountaineers in that aspect.

West Virginia finishes the season with a 19-15 record, and their postseason struggles have rolled over to yet another year. WVU hasn’t made it past the second round of the NCAA Tournament since the 2017-18 season. Their 9-seed is the lowest they’ve earned under Huggins since they were a 10-seed back in 2012.

Huggins said that his main focus for the past month was getting his team into the tournament. WVU won four of its last six games with their only losses coming to 1-seed Kansas twice. That was good enough to get West Virginia in, but their trip wouldn’t last longer than one game.

With the Mountaineers’ woes extending to another postseason, some might feel as though Huggins should hang the clipboard up — or at least move on from WVU. He’s been in Morgantown since 2007 and has experienced great success throughout his tenure — but that success has been in the rear view for the past few seasons. That isn’t lost on Huggins amid another NCAA Tournament exit.

“I got people who think I should stay on for quite a while, and there’s people probably thinking I ought to pack it in and let some young kid come in and screw it up,” Huggins said postgame.

Whether West Virginia elects to move on from its longtime coach remains to be seen, but even in a fairly average season he took his team to the Big Dance and nearly advanced to the second round. Still, one tournament win in five years is a tough stretch for a team that made the NCAA Tournament in nine of Huggins’ first 11 seasons, including a Final Four in 2010.