Amid mystery swirling about the status of three of its top players, West Virginia has overcome the injuries and lineup uncertainty to win six straight games.
When the Mountaineers (10-2, 1-0 Big 12) host Oklahoma State (8-4, 0-1) on Saturday afternoon in Morgantown, W.Va., all eyes will be on West Virginia’s layup line to see who might be active.
Much concern surrounds the availability of Tucker DeVries, who averages 14.9 points per game and is the team’s top 3-point threat.
DeVries, who underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason, has missed the last four games. He is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, according to his father Darian DeVries, who is in his first year as the Mountaineers’ coach.
Additionally, Amani Hansberry, who averages 10.6 points and a team-high 6.6 rebounds, missed West Virginia’s stunning 62-61 road upset of then-No. 7 Kansas on Tuesday with an ankle injury.
Meanwhile, Jayden Stone, who averaged 20.8 points last year at Detroit Mercy, has yet to play this season. Darian DeVries offered mixed messages about Stone’s status.
On his radio show on Thursday night, the coach provided no clues on whether any of the players would be available for the Oklahoma State game.
“Day-to-day,” DeVries said. “Like I said earlier, our job is, we’ll try to get the guys back on the floor as soon as possible.”
Eduardo Andre, a 6-foot-11 transfer from Fresno, rescued West Virginia over the last two games. He made 13 of 15 shots and totaled 29 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks.
Andre’s play has helped take some of the load off West Virginia’s top scorer Javon Small, who averages 19.2 points and a team-high 4.9 assists.
One of the storylines on Saturday is that Small was the top scorer last year at Oklahoma State.
“I recruited Javon and tried to get him to stay here,” Cowboys coach Steve Lutz said. “He knew that we wanted him to be part of our program and he chose otherwise.”
Another plot line for Saturday is the reunion of Lutz and Darian DeVries. For seven years, the two were assistants together at Creighton.
Oklahoma State lost its conference opener Monday at home to No. 14 Houston, 60-47, with the Cowboys making just 25.9 percent of their shots and committing 14 turnovers.
Oklahoma State’s most productive players are Central Florida transfer Marchelus Avery (12.3 points, 5.4 rebounds) and Xavier transfer Abou Ousmane (11.5 points, 5.5 rebounds).
–Field Level Media
