Takeaways: Sencire Harris Finally Made a 3-Pointer

Our long regional nightmare is over, WVU basketball sophomore Sencire Harris has finally made a three-pointer this season. Two, in fact, as the Mountaineers’ defensive specialist finished 2-4 from range in the team’s 69-50 win over Oklahoma State on Saturday.

Harris entered Saturday 0-26 on the year on three-pointers and missed his first two attempts from range against the Cowboys to sit at 0-28.

And then, it happened. With 6:59 to play in the first half, Harris got the ball wide open at the top of the arch and finally sank his first triple of the season. And just for good measure, he made his very next attempt too, hitting another wide-open shot from the corner.

Shooters SHOOT.

🫡 @SencireH pic.twitter.com/dT9gJSJ0Yh

— WVU Men's Basketball (@WVUhoops) January 5, 2025

“I’m making them in practice, but come game time I was struggling,” Harris said after the game. “Being able to see one go in, I’m more relaxed.”

Harris shot 31.7% from three during his freshman season at Illinois in 2022-23. Despite his early-season struggles with the Mountaineers, he is capable of shooting.

“Throughout the summer he shot 35% from three,” WVU coach Darian DeVries said. “I think it was just one of those things where he got off to a slow start and it started to get in his head a little bit. Sometimes you just need to see one go in during a game and now he can just go back to relaxing.”

Harris being able to produce on offense, especially from the perimeter, would be a big boost for the Mountaineers. There have been times this season, most recently at Kansas, when Harris and his stellar defense needed to be taken off the floor because he was a non-factor on offense and opponents stopped covering him.

“We need him to score, we need him to be a threat,” DeVries said. “That’s a big deal for us. Now all of a sudden that’s another guy you’re going to have to guard.”

Hansberry Returns

Amani Hansberry made his return to the rotation after missing the last two games with an ankle injury.

While he wasn’t back to 100%, he only played 13 minutes off the bench, it’s the first good bit of injury news the Mountaineers have gotten this season.

“It was good to get him out there,” DeVries said. “He hasn’t been able to practice much so we were limiting his minutes a little bit. I thought he did a nice job under the circumstances. Hopefully, it’ll continue to get better for him.”

Tucker DeVries missed his fifth straight game with an upper-body injury. Jayden Stone warmed up for the second game in a row but still did not make his season debut.

Freshman guard KJ Tenner took a hard fall near the end of the game and went straight into the WVU locker room. He did not return to the bench before the game was over. DeVries had no updates on his health immediately following the game.

For a related story, 3-point defense lifts WVU basketball to another victory.