WVU Basketball Bounces Back in KenPom Rankings After Iona Win

WVU basketball has bounced back in the KenPom rankings following a dominating win over Iona inside the WVU Coliseum.

The Mountaineers (3-1) had dropped 10 spots to No. 85 following a blowout loss in last week’s Backyard Brawl, but Wednesday’s 43-point win boosted the team back up to No. 72, a season high.

WVU is 14th among the 16 Big 12 schools, ahead of Kansas State (No. 75) and Oklahoma State (No. 87) and just two spots behind Colorado (No. 70). The conference has six teams in the top 12, lead by No. 3 Houston, NO. 7 Iowa State, No. 8 Kansas, No. 10 Texas Tech, No. 11 Cincinnati and No. 12 Baylor.

Big 12 KenPom Rankings

3. Houston
7. Iowa State
8. Kansas
10. Texas Tech
11. Cincinnati
12. Baylor
17. Arizona
28. BYU
53. Utah
62. TCU
65. Arizona State
66. UCF
70. Colorado
72. West Virginia
75. Kansas State
87. Oklahoma State

First-year West Virginia coach Darian DeVries was weary of Iona’s full-court press coming into last nights game, but it proved to be no obstacle. Iona applied very little pressure on the night, finishing with just seven steals and causing 16 WVU turnovers.

The Mountaineers found their groove following a slow first couple of minutes. Javon Small scored 11 of his game-high 23 points in the second half as the Mountaineers cruised to the blowout victory.

Tucker DeVries stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks. Amani Hansberry scored 10 points and Jonathan Powell led the bench with 11.

WVU basketball now heads south to the Bahamas to compete in next week’s Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. The Mountaineers will take on No. 3 Gonzaga in the first game Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.

The Bulldogs at No. 1 in the KenPom rankings with a 5-0 start to the season. Gonzaga’s averaging magrin of victory is 25 points. Other than an eight-point win over Arizona State, the Bulldog have won every game by at least 23 points.

For a related story, WVU basketball needs Javon Small to continue coming up big.