Rowdy Coliseum Crowd Gives Home-Court Advantage to WVU Basketball

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The crowd inside the Coliseum Friday night did everything it could to help WVU basketball win just short of actually putting the ball through the hoop themselves.

The 11,522 fans that filled the Coliseum made up the largest crowd of the season thus far and spurred the Mountaineers to a 16-0 second-half run that was the difference in the 73-60 victory.

“I thought the crowd was tremendous,” first-year WVU coach Darian DeVries said. “I thought the crowd had a tremendous impact on the game. We were half a step slow a good portion of the night and I thought their energy provided us some energy and then we were able to come out of it. Once we did that, we were able to sustain it for the rest of the second half.”

With a brand new roster and coaching staff, it was the first time any members of the Mountaineers were able to experience what the atmosphere in the Coliseum can be like. 

“The crowd was a big factor in all aspects of the game,” senior Tucker DeVries said. “Our team didn’t have quite the same juice in the first half as it did in the second half and I thought we came out in the second half and brought it a little bit and then obviously the crowd helps ignite that. They had a huge impact on this game.”

Georgetown was able to dictate the pace of play in the first half, forcing the Mountaineers to slow down to what the Hoyas wanted. As the team started to play better in the second half and the crowd got more and more into the action, the Mountaineers were able to speed the Hoyas up, outscoring them 45-30 after halftime.

“When you get that kind of energy on the road, it gives the team energy and that’s what home-court advantage does,” said Georgetown coach Ed Cooley, who has seen plenty of rowdy crowds in the Big East. “I give the crowd here a lot of credit, they got really, really loud and they did what they had to do to help their team win. That’s what a home court should do.”

Coach DeVries, who is usually as even-keeled as they come, even got fired up in the second half, fist-pumping and clapping as enthusiastically as anyone in attendance.

“I think I pulled something,” he quipped.

The crowd even helped draw a foul as Georgetown’s Malik Mack was whistled for a technical foul for jawing it up with the WVU student section.

“I feed off energy,” senior Javon Small said. “I feel like the crowd was really great, and once they got rowdy and got loud then I started screaming to the crowd whenever I made a big play.”

Georgetown was the first major conference opponent WVU has hosted this season. A similar caliber of opponent won’t be in Morgantown until Oklahoma State comes to town for a conference game on Jan. 4. If the Mountaineers can keep up the excitement, the Coliseum might once again be considered one of the toughest places to play in the country.

“The home-court advantage we have is real and when this crowd is engaged like that, this is a very, very tough place to play,” Coach DeVries said.

For a related story, fans and media proclaim WVU basketball is back after another big win.