5 Things to Know Before West Virginia vs. Mount St. Mary’s

West Virginia will host Mount St. Mary’s on Monday night for the 2022-23 season opener. Let’s take a look at five things to know before the game.

West Virginia Begins New Era

During the offseason, Bob Huggins and his coaching staff went out and recruited the transfer portal to retool a team that finished in last place in the Big 12. WVU lost Taz Sherman, Gabe Osabuohien, Malik Curry, Pauly Paulicap and Dimon Carrigan to graduation; Jalen Bridges, Sean McNeil and Isaiah Cottrell to the transfer portal.

Now the Mountaineers will be led by newcomers Erik Stevenson, Emmitt Matthews, Tre Mitchell and Joe Toussaint. Huggins does return Kedrian Johnson, Kobe Johnson, Seth Wilson, Jamel King and James Okonkwo.

This new era of college basketball seems to be how Huggins will build his team now. Here’s to the new era of WVU basketball.

Tre Mitchell Game-Time Decision

As first reported by Stadium’s Jeff Goodman, West Virginia forward Tre Mitchell (foot) will be a game-time decision against Mount St. Mary’s on Monday night. Mitchell has missed the preseason public festivities throughout October.

WVU head coach Bob Huggins mentioned last week that Mitchell has not practiced since his injury. Mitchell missed the Gold-Blue Debut, Dayton ‘secret scrimmage’ and the Bowling Green exhibition.

Mitchell averaged 8.7 points and 4.0 rebounds on 48 percent shooting last season for Texas.

Watch for Rebounding, Inside Scoring

Last season West Virginia struggled the most with rebounding and inside scoring, which was not normal from a Huggins team. WVU finished 312th in the country in rebounding and 328th in 2-point field goals.

West Virginia will look to Mitchell, Jimmy Bell and Mohamed Wague to lead the frontcourt this season and not have a repeat of last year.

Betting Lines

The spread for the West Virginia and Mount St. Mary’s game is -17 WVU. The over/under is set at 130.0.

Where to Watch

West Virginia and Mount St. Mary’s will tip off at 7 p.m. inside the WVU Coliseum on Monday. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN+. Mountaineer Sports Network will broadcast the game on the radio, with Tony Caridi and Jay Jacobs once again calling WVU games for the entirety of this season.