Monmouth Upsets West Virginia in Buy Game, 73-65

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Monmouth came into the WVU Coliseum, defeating West Virginia 73-65 in a buy game. The Mountaineers’ loss on Friday night gives interim HC Josh Eilert his first of his career.

WVU (1-1) struggled throughout the entire game against Monmouth in all phases of the game. The Mountaineers shot 21-of-67 from the field, tied the rebounding battle at 34 and turned the ball over 10 times. West Virginia’s offense was stagnant for the entirety of the game with no movement.

Monmouth (1-1) also scored 28 fast break points while shooting 45% from the field. Hawks G Xander Rice led the game in scoring with 30 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field. Rice also recorded four rebounds and six assists.

West Virginia big man Jesse Edwards connected on a shot to beat the first half buzzer. Edwards’ two points gave WVU the lead at the time. Edwards led the way with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

🚨 @jesseedwards_14 AT THE BUZZER 🚨 pic.twitter.com/nAFtFphL3U

— WVU Men's Basketball (@WVUhoops) November 11, 2023

Iona transfer Quinn Slazinski gave the Mountaineers a spark towards the end of the first half. Slazinski hit a three at the top of the key before dishing off a pass to Kobe Johnson in transition. This sequence helped get WVU the lead back.

Monmouth came out of halftime swinging for the fences. The Hawks hit back-to-back threes to help extend a lead to six. The Hawks never let their foot off the gas.

West Virginia was once again without Kerr Kriisa (suspension), RaeQuan Battle (waiver) and Akok Akok (health) on Friday. Kriisa is sat out for his nine-game suspension, Battle is ineligible to play as he awaits his waiver appeal decision and Akok is recovering from a health scare from two weeks ago.

West Virginia will complete their three-game home stand on Tuesday against Jacksonville State. The Mountaineers and Gamecocks will tipoff at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.