West Virginia men’s basketball (15-9, 6-7) couldn’t quite pull it off on Tuesday, dropping an important homecourt game to BYU (16-8, 7-6) that will impact the team’s NCAA Tournament resume and their place in the Big 12 Conference Standings. While the Mountaineers are far from eliminated from tournament play with the loss, they inch ever-closer to the dread 'bubble.' Here's what WVU can take away from the heartbreaking defeat.
Mountaineers outdone off the Bench by the Cougars
While WVU managed to get production from multiple different players, with all eight athletes in the rotation scoring, no one managed to score enough to match BYU’s bench production. The Cougars outscored the Mountaineers 38-18 in Bench Points on Tuesday.
Of course, BYU had seven players coming off the bench as opposed to WVU’s three -- yes, depth will continue to be a problem for this team -- but in the end, that’s not a number that affects how the score is added up in the game of basketball. So the Mountaineers will have to get that team-wide scoring effort to contribute larger numbers, or the usual suspect Javon Small will need to get back to his standard of 25-plus point performances.
Jonathan Powell, Tucker DeVries develop a bond
According to CBS Sports Network sideline reporter Emily Proud, a senior-freshman relationship has developed on the WVU men’s basketball roster.
Proud mentioned during second-half television coverage of the clash between BYU and WVU on Tuesday night that senior Tucker DeVries was “jumping and clapping, even in his sling” as Powell had an 11 point performance in the loss that saw him go 4-for-7 from the field and 3-for-6 from behind-the-arc.
2 ties, 8 lead changes. @WVUhoops closes out the half with a three ball in the final seconds. We've got a ballgame on @CBSSportsNet pic.twitter.com/pzAkn7wBiR
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) February 12, 2025
Proud mentioned that Powell had told her earlier in the evening about the “relationship between the two,” indicating that DeVries is taking an important role as a friend, mentor, and teammate with the young guard.
This veteran presence mentoring Powell will hopefully lead to even bigger and better things for the standout shooter who is having a tremendous season for a true freshman. And hopefully, DeVries will earn a medical redshirt following his season-ending injury and get the opportunity to share the floor once more with Powell next year.