Takeaways: The Darian DeVries Era of WVU Basketball Got Off to Strong Start

The first eight minutes of the Darian DeVries era of WVU basketball went better than anyone could have imagined, as the Mountaineers opened the 2024-25 season with a dominant 87-59 win over Robert Morris on Monday.

West Virginia (1-0) began the game on a 21-0 run and led 30-2 after eight minutes, showing what this style of WVU basketball can look like at its absolute best.

Tucker DeVries can light it up

This wasn’t exactly new information as Tucker DeVries was one of the top scorers in the country last season, but it was still something to watch first-hand. The senior forward showcased nearly all of his skills in just the first three possessions of the game.

DeVries’s first basket of the game, and the season, was a three-pointer from a few steps beyond the arc. On the ensuing RMU possession, DeVries poked the ball away from the Colonials and then got down the court for a fastbreak dunk. And just for good measure, DeVries hit another three-pointer on WVU’s third trip down the court, giving him eight points in not even 80 seconds of play.

Later in the first half, DeVries caught a pass in the corner and waited to jump into an out-of-control defender in order to draw a shooting foul. Of course to draw a foul he had to actually shoot, and he made that off-balance heave as well. The least impressive moment of the night for DeVries was that he missed the and-one.

The freshmen can play

While DeVries was more of a known commodity with three seasons of college basketball under his belt, true freshmen KJ Tenner and Jonothan Powell came into the year as true wild cards.

Both have the prestige to be productive first-year players — they both won Mr. Basketball awards, Tenner in Tennessee and Powell in Ohio — but you never know how teenagers will translate to college.

If Monday was any indication, both should be just fine this season. The pair each finished their collegiate debut with double-digit points, Powell with 11 and Tenner with 10, while looking confident and composed on the floor.

“Sometimes it takes a while for freshmen to get comfortable,” WVU coach Darian DeVries said. “I always say it takes about your first 50 points before you stop thinking about it, but they don’t seem to think about it too much. They kind of just go out and play, which is great.”

Need to be better on the boards

If there was one area of concern on the night for the Mountaineers, it’s that the Colonials managed to pull down 16 offensive rebounds and score 12 second-chance points.

“When you hold a team to 32% (shooting) in both halves, that’s really good defensively,” DeVries said. “But you can’t give 16 extra opportunities on a given night and expect to be successful at that end of the floor.”

RMU outrebounded West Virginia on the night, 41-37. Part of that is because Rober Morris missed so many shots, 46 in total, but it’s also because WVU’s undersized starting lineup doesn’t feature anyone taller than 6-8.

“We’ll talk about it all year,” DeVries said. “It’s an area we’ve worked on from June until now and we’re going to continue to work on it. It’s just a mindset, we’ve got to do a better job of hitting bodies.”

For a related story, WVU basketball fans were pleased with the Mountaineers’ season opener.