Minutes Adding Up for WVU Basketball in Back-to-Back Overtime Games

WVU basketball might have some tired legs after playing overtime games on back-to-back days in the Bahamas as part of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.

That’s 90 total minutes of basketball in less than a 24-hour window. In other words, a whole heck of a lot, especially for a team with as little depth as the Mountaineers.

West Virginia had a quick turnaround from beating No. 3 Gonzaga on Wednesday to playing Louisville in a semifinal match at noon on Thursday.

“Of course, you want to celebrate a big win, but we knew we had three games in three days,” point guard Javon Small said. “Once we beat Gonzaga, we knew we had to go on to the next game. We cheered in the locker room for a few minutes maybe, but then it was on to the next game.”

The top of WVU’s roster is shouldering a lot of the workload in this tournament. Small, who has been the breakout star of the event, has logged over 80 minutes across the two games, playing 43 minutes in both.

Tucker DeVries (74 minutes) and Sincere Harris (68) both played over 40 minutes on Wednesday and likely would have again on Thursday if both hadn’t fouled out of the game. Amani Harris has played 71 minutes and Toby Okani has racked up 65 minutes to round out WVU’s starting five. 

Freshman Jonathan Powell is the only bench player who has seen significant time, logging 49 minutes. Eduardo Andre (19 minutes), KJ Tenner (13) and Joseph Yesefu (five minutes Thursday) are the only other players who have seen the court.

Louisville, in contrast, got to rest many of its starters during its first-round blowout win over Indiana on Wednesday. The Cardinals turned around to top WVU 79-70 in overtime on Thursday.

“I don’t think we ran out of gas, we’re not going to use that (as an excuse),” WVU coach Darian DeVries said. “I thought Louisville did a nice job, made some plays and were able to get to the free-throw line. There were certainly plenty of opportunities there we could’ve capitalized on to come out on top.”

WVU basketball gets a little more off time before playing its third and final game in the Bahamas on Friday at 3 p.m.

For a related story, WVU fans are thankful for the Mountaineers’ effort against Louisville, despite the loss.