West Virginia men's basketball ended a three-game losing streak on Sunday with one of those ever-so-rare Big 12 road victories. And while a primary catalyst for the win was a return to form for senior guard Javon Small, who paced the Mountaineers with 19 points and 9 assists, he was not the only player that came up big for WVU.
It's been an oft-repeated line amongst those who follow WVU basketball this winter -- the team needs another dynamic scorer. It was a mantra that rang true before an injury sidelined Tucker DeVries indefinitely, who was the team's second leading scorer. But following that loss, it became even more curcial.
On Sunday, the Mountaineers found that scorer in the form of senior Joseph Yesufu, a journeyman guard who played for current WVU head coach Darian DeVries at Drake before spending stints with kansas and Washington State prior to landing in Morgantown.
Yesufu has stepped up in a few situations earlier this season -- he recorded a season-high 18 points in a win against Colorado on the road, and he chipped in 14 points in a non-conference win over North Carolina Central. On Sunday, he went a perfect 6-of-6 from the field, including converting 4 buckets from behind-the-arc. It was his second-best scoring performance this year, and the second-best for WVU on Sunday.
"He was terrific. I'm really happy for him -- he's been going through some things personally," head coach Darian DeVries said following the game. "We needed that spark."
Yesufu has averaged just 4.5 points in 16.5 minutes per game this season, but he has shown an ability to show up in clutch time, so to speak, when the team needs him too. It might go without saying, but this is the type of effort from Yesufu that can help change the late-season trajectory of a WVU team that has spent the past few weeks playing "will they, won't they" when discussing the possibility of advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
Historically, there is also precedence for Yesufu showing up and playing his best ball late in the season. During his sophomore season at Drake under DeVries, Yesufu earned Missouri Valley Conference Sixth Man of the Year honors after averaging 23.2 points in the last nine games of the season.