College basketball is a funny game. A team can look pretty bad one night, and a world beater another night. Sometimes you run into a buzzsaw and the other team can’t miss a shot, other times you can’t sink any of your own shots; but you might be the buzzsaw, or see the other team go cold in their shooting.
Some of the variability has to do with you have young men who you expect are going to have some inconsistency, sometimes travel catches up with you or the other team. Sometimes you match up very well or quite poorly with your opponent. And home court matters.
This past week, WVU played two very, very good teams. If they stay healthy, it would not be a shock to see either Houston or Iowa State in the Final Four. The Cougars are perhaps the best defensive team in the country, and pair it with a good offense. The Cyclones have incredible balance, and are one of two teams in the country to be ranked in the top dozen offenses and defenses per KenPom ratings.
On Wednesday, the Mountaineers were at #10 Houston, and did not fare well at all. They had a strong, but brief start, and never really challenged after that. It was 40-27 hat halftime, and Houston easily won, 70-54.
It was possible the WVU would be in for another long game when Iowa State came to Morgantown on Saturday. Instead, West Virginia played maybe its best game of the season, and pulled away late for an exciting 64-57 win over the #2 ranked Cyclones. It was WVU’s third win over a Top 10 team this year, and the Mountaineers are building a very good resume for postseason.
WVU also spent the weekend honoring Jerry West. His family was in attendance for the Iowa State game, and it was announced that his #44 would be retired for all WVU sports.
The women’s team got in on the act, too. They hosted the Iowa State women’s team, and took control early, leading 30-15 after the first quarter. They were never threatened after that, and cruised to a solid 82-68 win. Earlier in the week, they had avenged their loss to Colorado by blowing out the Buffaloes, 73-46.
Notes: Congratulations to WVU coach Darian DeVries, who was the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year for its mid-season award. It is well deserved…The men travel to Kansas State this weekend for a Saturday showdown against the Wildcats (6:00pm, CBS Sports Network), and return to the Coliseum for a rematch against Houston (Wed, Jan 29, 7:00pm, ESPN Plus)…Despite losing All-American Ty Watters to injury, the #22 WVU Wrestling team managed to upset #20 Oklahoma for the first time since 2018. They held tough for a while against #3 Oklahoma State before the upper weights (where three of their four wrestlers are ranked #3, and the fourth is #8) took over and WVU lost 30-12…The tennis team started off their 2025 campaign with a pair of wins, beating Duquesne and Morgan State… The gymnasts lost their home opener to Kent State. For the second time in three meets, the beam cost them a likely win. Once they get that event cleaned
