Strong start key to WVU’s road win at Cincinnati

“I thought defensively we really came out with a good focus,” explained WVU coach Darian DeVries in his postgame comments on the Mountaineer Sports Network. “We put a lot of emphasis on starting the first half better than we had the last couple of games. You know we dug ourselves such big holes that by the time we came out of it, it was just too much. We were much better in the first half this time.”

West Virginia never trailed in achieving the key triumph to snap its recent skid. A 14-2 spurt midway through the opening period turned an 11-11 tie into a 25-13 WVU lead. The Mountaineers expanded that first-half cushion to as large as 16 points before taking a 40-25 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

“Overall, I thought the guys really executed at both ends,” said DeVries of the first half.

The points didn’t come as easily for WVU in the second half as they did in the first – 55% shooting and 40 points in the first half with 41% shooting and 23 points in the second – but the Mountaineer defense never wavered. Cincinnati scored only 25 points in each half, and for the game, it managed to shoot just 31.5% from the field (17 of 54) and 31.3% from three (five of 16).

“We got a little stagnant there late as we were trying to work it down, but overall, it was just a great effort by the guys,” said DeVries, as WVU’s lead never fell below 11 points in the second half.

West Virginia held it own on the boards with the bigger Bearcats (UC 33 rebounds, WVU 31), and the Mountaineers outscored UC 20-13 on points-off-turnovers.

“I thought the guys, especially Sincere (Harris), put a really good effort into guarding the ball and getting us started from a mind standpoint, and then we just carried it from there,” noted DeVries. “I thought defensively we were really active. Even when we made mistakes, I thought our connectivity of covering for one another was really good. That led for some opportunities for our offense. I thought we made some nice plays and got some good movement, got the ball popping and got some nice pick-and-roll opportunities and some things we were looking for that the guys were able to convert on.”

WVU had hit only four 3-pointers in each of their three recent defeats – its first multi-game losing streak of the season – but it was nine-of-18 from beyond the arc in Sunday’s victory.

Javon Small led WVU in scoring with 19 points to go along with nine assists. He got help from fellow senior guard Joseph Yesufu, who came off the bench to score 16 points. Amani Hansberry added eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Mountaineers. Day Day Thomas was the only Bearcat to reach double figures, as he had 10 points, but he needed 14 field-goal attempts, making just four of them, to get there.

“(Small) had another tremendous game and continues to play at a really, really high level. He had nine assists, too, so let’s not forget that. We ask him to do so much offensively,” stated DeVries. “Joe was also terrific. We needed that spark from him. He not only gave us 16 points but a lift we so badly needed.”

The victory not only snapped West Virginia’s three-game losing streak but improved its overall record to 14-7 and evened its Big 12 mark at 5-5. Meanwhile, Cincinnati fell for the fourth straight time and dropped to 12-9 overall and 2-8 in the league.

It was also just WVU’s second win all-time in six games against UC at Fifth Third Arena.

After Sunday’s win, the Mountaineers return to Morgantown for a quick reset before they head to Fort Worth for their next game, where they’ll face TCU (11-10/4-6) at Schollmaier Arena on Wednesday (8 p.m., ET, on ESPN+).

“Now we have another big road game,” concluded DeVries, whose club has reached the midway point in the 20-game Big 12 portion of its regular season. “I think I’m right about this, but this was a Quad 1 road win today. That’s why you don’t look at records. Every night is going to be an opportunity, but every night is also going to be a big challenge. When you come to a place like Cincinnati, which has really good metrics, this is a good win for us. This would be a big win for anybody. You get those road wins (WVU now has three in the league against two Big 12 road losses), they’re like gold. We’ll take this one, and now we’ll get ready to fly to Texas and try to go do it again.”