Joe Toussaint happy to see West Virginia get back in the win column

Not all winless teams are created equal. West Virginia started out 0-5 in Big 12 play, but that record simply does not encapsulate how good this Mountaineer group really is. Despite the rough losing streak to start conference play, WVU was still producing efficient games. They just happened to lose all four of their close contests to start league play. Well, as statisticians say, if you play enough close games you’re bound to win some.

Against TCU at home, Bob Huggins’ squad finally did just that, staving off a late run from the Horned Frogs to seal the deal in a game they led virtually the whole time. It was a gratifying first conference win for the players, and especially point guard Joe Toussaint. He shared afterwards that he and the team were relieved to get their first Big 12 victory. However, it’s time to string together more than one decent performance.

“I feel like, with the one assignment that we had, I think we should do that more often. Break the streak and I’m happy now,” he shared in the postgame presser. “Man, I’m happy we got one and now we just built — you know, we got one. But we got like 14 or 15 (games) left. So, you know, we’re gonna enjoy this one tonight. But we’re back to work tomorrow.”

Back to work on win No. 2 for these guys. Which Coach Huggins thinks is coming in the near future. In fact, he thinks this one big win could snowball into several more since West Virginia has two more home games in their next three, with the road trip coming against the (now) only winless Big 12 team in Texas Tech. A real chance to build momentum and save the season and their NCAA Tournament hopes.

“I got them together after the Oklahoma game and I said, fellas, we’re going home for three of four,” Huggins said after the TCU win. “Let’s just go win four and all of a sudden we’re 4-5 and it looks a whole lot different and go from there.”

The advantage of playing in a historically great conference from top to bottom is that bad losses are non-existent and nearly every game is an opportunity to pick up a Quad 1 win — the ultimate currency for NCAA Tournament seeding. West Virginia, despite a 1-5 mark, still controls their own destiny in making the big dance. But the road there is not an easy one, as Joe Toussaint knows well.