Two teams that are trying to steady their seasons will meet up Saturday when West Virginia hosts Utah in Morgantown, W. Va.
The Mountaineers (14-8, 5-6 Big 12) enter this contest after having lost 65-60 at TCU on Wednesday. It was the sixth loss in nine games for West Virginia.
The Utes (13-9, 5-6) come in on a positive note, having withstood a Colorado rally to earn a 72-59 win at home on Wednesday. Utah had lost three of its previous four games.
Gabe Madsen finished with 17 points and made some key buckets in the final stretch when the Utes turned a close game into a double-digit blowout win with a late 20-9 run.
Utah left a lot of points on the floor, however, after only connecting on 18 of 35 free throws.
“It wasn’t the prettiest of games,” Madsen said. “But it was good to finish a game like that.”
“It’s a good win for us,” Utah coach Craig Smith added. “It’s a game we needed to win.”
The Utes have now won two of three as they show signs of coming out of their midseason funk and push toward a postseason tournament invitation.
West Virginia fought out of an 11-point deficit to make things competitive against TCU but ended up falling short. They found out earlier in the week that second-leading scorer Tucker DeVries will miss the rest of the season to undergo shoulder surgery.
“We play with the guys we’ve got,” said West Virginia coach Darian DeVries, who is also Tucker’s father. “That’s just part of it. Guys are out there competing and that’s what we roll with.”
The Mountaineers did pick up a nice road win at Cincinnati on Sunday and are still in the mix for a possible NCAA Tournament invitation if they can get things going in the right direction in the second half of conference play.
They’ll continue to rely on guys like Javon Small, who had 20 points and seven assists against TCU. Reserves Joseph Yesufu (11 points) and Eduardo Andre (10 points) also had solid contributions in the loss.
“The league’s terrific like everybody knows,” Darian DeVries said. “It’s a very tough, competitive league. Every night’s a battle.”
–Field Level Media
