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WVU Basketball Excited to Host ISU in Sold-Out Coliseum

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Kelsie LeRose / WVSN

WVU basketball has already had to play a couple of top teams in enemy territory. On Saturday, the Mountaineers will get to flip the script a little when they host No. 2 Iowa State inside the WVU Coliseum.

WVU has already played in brutal road environments at No. 9 Kansas and at No. 10 Houston and now has a chance to show its home-court advantage is just as significant.

โ€œIโ€™m expecting this place to be rocking,โ€ WVU coach Darian DeVries said Friday. โ€œOur reputation as a fanbase in the Coliseum is highly thought of across the basketball world.โ€

Saturdayโ€™s game against the Cyclones (ESPN+) has been sold out for over a week, making it the first official sell-out of the season for West Virgina.

โ€œWeโ€™ve got to put on a show for our fans,โ€ senior guard Joeseph Yesufu said. โ€œ(Playing at home) makes a huge difference. You get a lot more rest and being at home, out fans are one of the best. Playing in front of them gives us more energy.โ€

There have been a number of good crowds in the Coliseum recently โ€” particularly for Georgetown last month and Arizona last week โ€” but the combination of a sell-out and students being back on campus figure to produce a home environment that the team hasnโ€™t seen in at least a couple of years.

โ€œEven when I was looking at what this job was about, thatโ€™s one of the first things that came out from almost everybody,โ€ DeVries said of WVU fans. โ€œIโ€™m really excited to feel that. The students are back, itโ€™s sold out and I canโ€™t wait for that energy to fill the arena.โ€

WVU also plans to use Saturdayโ€™s game to honor legendary Mountaineer Jerry West. The team will wear throwback jerseys and members of Westโ€™s family will be in attendance. The Mountaineers have worn a No. 44 patch on their jerseys this season in honor of West.

For a related story, Clippers send sizeable financial gift to WVU in honor of Jerry West.

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