Any other college basketball team would have likely already cracked under the conditions facing No. 21 West Virginia.
The Mountaineers are dealing with three players out with injuries (Jayden Stone, Tucker DeVries, and KJ Tenner) and another starter in Amani Hansberry is still nursing a previous injury from non-conference play. The Mountaineers' bench went just 8-deep as they travelled to Colorado on Sunday to begin a 2-game western road swing, and one of those players is a walk-on transfer from a Division 2 program.
On top of that, WVU immediately felt the constraint of playing with foul troubles, having to juggle minutes in the rotation due to fouls beginning early and drawing 23 fouls in total -- including 16 in the second half alone. This put the Mountaineers in a precarious position with their already thin roster, and they faced a strong rally from the Buffaloes in the latter half of action.
Despite all that adversity, the Mountaineers were able to fight and stand strong, holding onto a lead they had held since the 19:23 mark of the first half to walk out of Boulder with a 78-70 win, helping the Mountaineers (12-3) bounce back from a loss to Arizona earlier in the week.
The Mountaineers were paced by their star senior Javon Small, who finished with 26 points and 7 assists in a huge performance. Four players managed to hit double-digits in the scoring effort for WVU, with senior Joseph Yesufu coming off the bench in a season-high 18-point effort. Senior Eduardo Andre added 12 points for WVU while freshman Jonathan Powell added 10 points.
The Mountaineers will finish their road trip on Wednesday as they're set for a clash with No. 12 Houston.