By Bill Nestor
West Virginia University’s men’s basketball team has shown the country that it has the ability to play with the big boys around the country. As a matter of fact, the Mountaineers have proven that they have a Top 10 team by bouncing three top 10 teams already this season.
WVU upended Gonzaga back in November in overtime to garner a little national attention right off the bat this season. A month later the Mountaineers went to Lawrence and gave Kansas their first league opening loss since 1991. That victory proved that the neutral court win over the ‘Zags was not a fluke and new head coach Darian DeVries and his squad should not be taken lightly.
A team without its stud playing in one of the top conferences in the country is bound to suffer a setback or two along the way. With Tucker DeVries out, all of the pressure has fallen on Javon Small and he has responded. Small leads the Big 12 in scoring, averaging 19.6 points per game and has shouldered the load in DeVries’s absence. However, the amount of firepower that is possessed by nearly every team in the conference is hard for West Virginia to match on a game-in game-out basis. Therefore, a loss sprinkled in here and there would be expected.
After the Jayhawk upset and a beatdown of Oklahoma State, a 19 point loss to Arizona followed in the second lock-up of 2025.
Another road win at Colorado was followed by an understandable stumble at number 10 Houston.
Even though the wins over Gonzaga and Kansas were impressive because they came away from Morgantown, they were difficult for fans to truly enjoy. Mountaineer Nation could not join together and slap hands after a big three-pointer or a rim-rocking dunk. There waa a desperate need for a big-time victory at the Coliseum. A few Saturdays ago, the fans got their wish as WVU took down number two Iowa State. A swollen crowd of 14,444 packed the Coliseum to witness that dare-I-say upset. This season DeVries and the Mountaineers are three and one versus top 10 teams and four and one against teams ranked in the top 25.
Here is where the roller coaster reaches the top with the win over the Cyclones and starts its downward plunge. Three days after the Iowa State battle, a home loss to Arizona State followed. West Virginia had cracked the top 25 and set in the number 23 spot. The Mountaineers were as cold as the weather outside, shooting 29 percent from the field and 14 percent from three-point land. The worst part is that it was a team that on paper should have provided another notch in the win column. Arizona State moved to 11 and seven and it was just the second conference win for the Devils.
This past Saturday, West Virginia traveled to Kansas State for a get-right game. It was an opportunity to get back on track. The Wildcats limped in with a seven and 11 record and just one conference win. The cold shooting continued (37 percent from the floor and 19 percent from deep) and a second consecutive loss gave DeVries his first losing streak in his young coaching career in Morgantown.
There are several games left in the season and lots of rides remaining for this team. Hopefully, they are riding high come March when it matters most.
That will do it for now! Until next time . . . take care and God Bless!!!