The West Virginia Mountaineers (18-12, 9-10 Big 12) completed a regular season sweep of the Utah Utes (16-14, 8-11 Big 12) on Tuesday night, defeating them on the road 71-69. The game came down to a final shot attempt from half court by Utah that would have won the game for the Utes, however it was blocked as time expired by guard Joseph Yesufu.
Mountaineers By The Numbers
Four Mountaineers scored in double digits in the victory, including three starters. Forward Amani Hansberry tallied 12 points and a game tying six rebounds, while starting guards Jonathan Powell and Javon Small had 10 and 12 points respectively. Small, who is second in the Big 12 with 18.2 PPG and fourth in assists with 5.5 PG, had a game high seven assists on the night as well. Yesufu came off of the bench to provide a valuable 12 points including a perfect 4/4 from the free throw line and the key block at the end of regulation.
Tournament Case
In spite of an 18-12 record including what most would view as a disappointing year in the Big 12 at 9-10, the Mountaineers may have sealed their fate with a bid to the 68 team NCAA Tournament later this month in the win over the Utes. Earlier victories over then No. 3 Gonzaga (86-78), No. 7 Kansas (62-61), and No. 2 Iowa State (64-57) may be enough to propel the Mountaineers into the tournament, despite an arguably lackluster second half of the season.
Darian DeVries Post Game
Coach Darian DeVries spoke about how he controlled the pace of the game against Utah, saying,
yeah typically we like to play a little faster but with some of the injuries we’ve had this year we’ve had to adjust our style of play a little bit and play a little slower tempo and control the game a little bit more… Defensively is where a lot of that starts. If we can keep people out of transition and create long possessions, that gives us an opportunity to get the pace of the game the way we want.
Full interview here:
West Virginia will host UCF (15-14, 6-12 Big 12) to close out the regular season. The game will be featured on ESPN+ at 5:00 PM EST.
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