The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board Because that's our custom

Foul shooting

February 12, 2015 by Mike Casazza

The time stamp on this is off. It was shortly after 10 p.m. I’m not sure why it posted at 11:42 p.m. Staten was long gone by then, but he did hit the court to attempt to cure what’s ailing him.

And you can’t find the timing to be more odd because 50 weeks ago Staten at home against Kansas State scored 35 points on 13 shots. I think the game is being called completely differently this season. I don’t think there’s much sense arguing that. In addition Bob Huggins said in that sprawling postgame radio hit following the Baylor loss that more contact goes unpunished under his basket, and I’m inclined to agree to a degree because I think officials let the other team get away with more because WVU does so much defensively.

So Staten’s free throw attempts are way down — though so are his minutes, and that’s not unrelated — and he’s hiccuping just about every time he steps to the line. And yet he’s shooting right around his career percentage.

Nevertheless, last night’s game was decided at the free throw line. Jaysean Paige, who is spiraling perilously close to “Shot Better from the Floor and/or 3-point Range Than the Foul Line,” went 0 for 3 when he had a chance to put that game on ice and go up 13. That preceded a 12-0 run that put Kansas State in front. Then the Wildcats, who committed the most untimely turnovers, went 1 for 4 at the line while WVU went 7 for 10.