College Basketball
WVU Basketball in Good Standing for Tournament Entering Final Week
WVU basketball is still in good standing to make the NCAA Tournament, despite a blowout loss at BYU Saturday night.
CBS Sports’s Jerry Palm and ESPN’s Joe Lunardi still have the Mountaineers (17-12, 8-10 Big 12) on the right side of the bubble with two regular season games left to play.
Palm has WVU on the bubble but making the bracket as a No. 10 seed and taking on No. 7 ULCA in Cleveland in the first round. Lunardi has moved WVU off the bubble and now considers the Mountaineers to have a 90% chance to make the tournament.
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) March 1, 2025
While WVU basketball continues to have good standing in bracketology, the Mountaineers are slipping in the KenPom rankings. After dropping into the 50s for the first time in months last week, West Virginia now sits at No. 53 following Saturday’s loss at BYU.
The Mountaineers started on the right foot last week, picking up a crucial home win over TCU, 77-55, Tuesday night. WVU got off to a hot start against the Horned Frogs, jumping ahead 23-7 in the first half before cruising to victory. Javon Small paced the Mountaineers with 23 points to go along with 10 assists while Sencire Harris finished with a career-high 13 points and Joseph Yesufu had 14.
But then, everything fell apart at BYU Saturday night. Both teams started ice-cold from the floor as defenses ruled the first half. Less than 20 points had been scored after the first 13 minutes as BYU led 11-8. BYU closed the first half on a 10-0 run, with all but two points coming from either inside the paint or at the free throw line. A hot start to the second half saw BYU extend its run to 18-0 and build a 14-point lead, 33-19. That was the start of a dominant second half for the Cougars, who eventually built a 30-point lead later in the game.
WVU’s final week of the regular season begins on Tuesday with a 9 p.m. tipoff at Utah. The Utes are led by former WVU coach Josh Eilert, who Utah named interim head coach last month. West Virginia then returns home to host UCF Saturday at 2 p.m. for Senior Day.
For a related story, WVU basketball couldn’t handle BYU attack.
