Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Free throws are supposed to be the easiest points on the floor, but for West Virginia this season, they have often been anything but automatic.
At times this season, the Mountaineers have struggled from the charity stripe. As a team, WVU is shooting 68.6 percent from the free-throw line, while opponents are converting at a 72.5 percent clip against the Mountaineers.
Some players have been consistent at the line, including Honor Huff, who is shooting 82.8 percent. Others, such as Amir Jenkins and Harlan Obioha, have made roughly half of their attempts this season.
Despite those season-long struggles, free throws played a key role in WVU’s 59-54 win over Kansas State on Tuesday. The Mountaineers went 6-of-9 from the line, including several clutch attempts down the stretch.
“We work on free throws a lot,” Huff said. “Just and shoot around and practice and I’m kind of mad I missed one. They expect me to come up there and that’s why they want the ball in my hands at the end of the game and luckily, I could resurrect the one miss I had and make two. So, it’s just about the confidence and knowing you put in the work to make the free throw so that would think that was the biggest thing today.”
Even so, inconsistency at the line remains an issue for WVU, something Huff believes starts with personal accountability.
“For me personally, no, there’s no excuse,” Huff said. “I got to come sit up there and make the free throw. I think, like I said, these guys rely on me to make those. If the game’s on the line, they’re going to want me at the line. So, that’s something that comes with responsibility, but something I’m ready for. And I just front end missed the first one. Legs kind of dead a little bit towards the end. But, no, I don’t think that’s an excuse at all. I think you just got to make them. Step up and make it.”
Even when things do not go as planned, the Mountaineers continue to find ways to gut out wins, embracing the grind of close games in Big 12 play.
“That was the message to the team, the whole game really, we’re going to have to, and we’re going to have to embrace that,” WVU head coach Ross Hodge said. “This is not a work of art at the moment but it can still turn into you know a masterpiece in my mind but you just got to be like ‘hey man this is gonna be hard’. You could have made two free throws you didn’t. Let’s get a stop and we were able to do that. Then the very next time he was up there and that’s why you got to move on. You can’t stay out of that. You got up there and made the next two. Again, it’s not always going to be (easy), especially in this league. It’s going to be hard. It’s going to get harder. It’s not going to get easier.”
Free throws may be labeled “free,” but in the Big 12, nothing comes easy. If the Mountaineers are going to continue grinding out close wins, they will have to embrace the difficulty, step up in pressure moments and convert when it matters most.
Photo Credit: Kelsie LeRose, WVSN
