WVU Basketball
WVU Basketball Jumps Up NET Rankings After Kansas Win
WVU basketball made its biggest jump in the NET Rankings this season following the team’s surprising win over No. 7 Kansas on Tuesday.
The Mountaineers (10-2, 1-0 Big 12) jumped six spots in the NCAA’s NET Rankings immediately following the win, from No. 35 to No. 29.
Down two starters, West Virginia led the Jayhawks end-to-end on New Year’s Eve, jumping out to a 9-0 lead in the first five minutes of play and never looking back.
Senior point guard Javon Smal had another standout performance, scoring 13 points with a team-high 10 rebounds and six assists. He was able to draw a shooting foul with less than two seconds to play and make the game-winning free throw.
Center Eduardo Andre, starting in place of the injured Amani Hansberry, had a career night with 15 points, six rebounds and four blocks. Jonathan Powell, starting for the injured Tucker DeVries, scored 11 points with a pair of early three-pointers.
It was the Mountaineers’ first-ever win inside Kansas’s Allen Fieldhouse, where they had been 0-11
Kansas fell five spots following the loss, from No. 15 to No. 20. It was the first time the Jayhawks had lost a conference opener in over 30 years, winning 33 straight to be exact.
Surprisingly, KenPom gave the Mountaineers a minimal bump for the win, moving the team up just one spot to No. 46. KenPom even moves teams up after losses if they keep it close as an underdog, making the slight adjustment for WVU after a big road win over a ranked team surprising.
WVU basketball returns home to host Oklahoma State on Saturday at noon. It’s a doubleheader in the WVU Coliseum as the women will host BYU at 6 p.m.
For a related story, WVU basketball fans were ecstatic following the Kansas upset.
WVU vs everyone
January 1, 2025 at 4:15 pm
No real WVU fan cares about these POS tools rankings. WVU should be a top 10 team. They have beaten Gonzaga, Arizona, Georgetown, Kansas. How many teams in the top 10 have better wins? Those paid off garbage disgraceful no good for anything scumbags hate WVU and refuse to give them credit. Screw them!!!!
Nazmo King
January 1, 2025 at 8:50 pm
This team should have been placed in the Top 20 after this huge victory on top of Gonzaga, Arizona, etc. But this is what happens in men’s basketball and football after your program falls down so far over several consecutive seasons of mediocrity like we have had at WVU in recent years. That’s all about to change in Bball under Devries – he and his warriors are nothing short of AMAZING and I can’t wait to see what heights they will reach here!