WVU Men's Basketball Earns Dominant Win In Preseason Scrimmage With Rival

The regular season for WVU basketball tips off in 17 days when they host Mount St. Mary’s at the Hope Coliseum. However, we get a partial glimpse into the product that West Virginia will put forth this season under Ross Hodge. Hodge and West Virginia got their first taste of hosting another team at the Coliseum as they hosted Maryland in a preseason “secret scrimmage” on Saturday. 

According to basketball insider Trilly Donovan, West Virginia defeated the Buzz Williams-coached Terrapins by a final score of 92-73. Though no official box score was released, a few players stood out in the 19-point win. 

Honor Huff, the nation’s leader in made 3-point baskets last season at Chattanooga, picked up where he left off, pouring in 32 points by knocking down 10-of-18 three-point attempts. The 5-foot-10 guard figures to be a focal point of the West Virginia offense this season. Hopefully, the performance against Maryland in the closed-door scrimmage is indicative of a strong start to his Mountaineer tenure when the season tips off next month.

North Dakota transfer, Treysen Eaglestaff, also seemed to live up to his hype as he added 22 points. Much like Huff, Eaglestaff is an explosive scorer with “in the gym” range from beyond the arc. Jasper Floyd, who joins Ross Hodge in coming to Morgantown via North Texas, scored 11 points and dished out 9 assists. The Mountaineer point guard is hopeful that his winning pedigree and veteran experience will translate to big-time wins at WVU.

What To Make Of A Preseason Scrimmage Win

Let’s start with the head coach Ross Hodge and his comments earlier this week regarding secret scrimmages in October. He provided the media with a rather hysterical example and warning against reading too much into these kinds of games. 

“Three years ago, we scrimmaged Mississippi State when we were at North Texas. They were good, an NCAA Tournament team that had a lot coming back. We tipped in a shot at the buzzer that probably should have counted but they waved it off and you don’t review it in a scrimmage. We ended up losing by one, probably should have won by one, but we walked away feeling pretty good,” Hodge said.

“Our starting center had 11 fouls, which probably would have drastically changed the outcome of that game. He probably would have fouled out in the first four minutes.”

11 fouls for a player in a scrimmage would certainly lead to a different outcome in a real game. The best route to take following the West Virginia win over Maryland is to not get too high or too low. In other words, don’t overreact to a 19-point win in which Honor Huff made 10 threes, but don’t under-react to it either.

Mountaineer fans should continue to be confident heading into the season. Coach Hodge and his staff have brought in veterans form winning programs who are hopeful to win a lot of games in the Big 12 this season.