West Virginia coach Ross Hodge is happy with the way his team has settled into the brutal grind of the Big 12.
The Mountaineers (13-7, 4-3) road-tripped through Arizona last week and earned their first win away from home by defeating Arizona State, 75-63, on Wednesday. The back half of the trip didn’t go as well as No. 1 Arizona administered an 88-53 beating on Saturday.
Nonetheless, as West Virginia prepares to face Kansas State (10-10, 1-6) in Morgantown, W. Va., Hodge appreciated how the Mountaineers handled themselves at Arizona — even though they were down 20 at halftime as the Wildcats never let up.
“We stayed connected despite the outcome of the game, which is what I challenge them to do,” Hodge said. “You have a great win on the road Wednesday against Arizona State and you’re celebrating and you love each other. Then you come in here and you get your tail whipped. You have to be able to do both the same and I think our guys did that for the most part and they competed for the most part.”
Honor Huff leads the Mountaineers with 16.3 points per game. Jasper Floyd (6.9 points, 3.0 assists, 1.9 steals per game) is known for his facilitating and defense.
Three other Mountaineers average at least 10 points in their balanced attack: Treysen Eaglestaff (10.6), Brenen Lorient (10.5, team-high 26 blocks) and Chance Moore (10.2).
Kansas State continued to struggle in an 86-62 home loss to Kansas Saturday — the Wildcats’ sixth loss in seven games.
Coach Jerome Tang has been feeling the pressure as they fall into a deeper hole. Tang led the Wildcats to the Elite Eight in his first season in 2022-23 and went 40-9 at home in his first three seasons.
The loss to Kansas, however, dropped Tang to 29-34 in Big 12 play.
“You never want to see anybody celebrate on your court,” Tang told the Wichita Eagle. “It sucks to see them do it. It really, really sucks to see them do it. I haven’t experienced that before, and it is not a good feeling. Not at all.”
PJ Haggerty continues to lead the Wildcats with 23.4 points and 4.5 assists per game. He entered Monday’s play ranked fifth nationally in scoring.
