Senior Night is always an emotional occasion, and that will certainly be the case on Wednesday night for Jaysean Paige, Jonathan Holton and Richard Romeo III.

 

“Jon has been here three – he redshirted a year – and Jaysean two and they’ve been terrific,” said Mountaineer coach Bob Huggins. “And Richard Romeo has been unbelievable. He does whatever you ask him to do in practice, he’s been here a summer and he’s been great.”

 

For Paige and Holton, West Virginia University has turned into a life line for their college basketball careers.

 

After his high school career in Coral Gables, Florida, Holton spent two seasons at Rhode Island playing in the Atlantic 10 Conference, then played one year at Palm Beach State Community College before finally finding a home at WVU.

 

Holton became an immediate starter and performed well for the Mountaineers last season, helping WVU to a 25-10 record, a trip to the NCAA tournament Sweet 16 and a No. 20 ranking in the final AP poll.

 

And this year, Holton has picked up where he’s left off by averaging 9.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game while shooting 53.5 percent from the floor. The 6-foot-7-inch forward has scored double figures 12 times, including five times in Big 12 Conference play so far this year.

 

His 7.9 rebounds per game places him fifth among all conference performers.

 

Paige, too, has thrived at WVU since transferring from Moberly Area Community College. After graduating from Perry County Central (Ky.) High, Paige’s journey to Morgantown included stops at College of Southern Idaho, Moberly Area Community College in Moberly, Missouri, and then, a brief commitment to Southern Mississippi University before getting out of that when former coach Donnie Tyndall left to take the Tennessee job.

 

A roster spot opened at West Virginia for Paige late in the spring of 2015, and Paige quickly jumped at the opportunity to play Big 12 basketball.

 

Following a solid junior campaign in 2015, the guard has blown up in 2016 becoming arguably the best sixth man in the country.

 

“I think the progress Jaysean has made this year is as good as you can expect from anyone,” said Huggins.

 

Paige recently set a school record with 34 points coming off the bench in a home win against Iowa State, and this week he is seventh in the Big 12 in scoring with an average of 14.3 points per game.

 

Three times the guard has been named Big 12 player of the week, and the Jamestown, New York, resident is a strong candidate for all-conference honors to be announced early next week.

 

In addition to scoring, Paige also ranks among the conference top 15 in steals (11^th, 1.4 spg.) field goal percentage (14^th, 46.8 percent) and free throw percentage (14^th, 76.8 percent).

 

Including this year’s 22-7 record, the Mountaineers have won 47 out of their last 64 games; 30 out of the last 33 Associated Press Top 25 polls have included the West Virginia Mountaineers with Paige and Holton on the court.

 

Those contributions have not gone unnoticed by Huggins.

 

“(Senior Night) will be like every other one I’ve been involved with – you hate to see them go,” he said. “At the same time, you are excited about their opportunities for what they can when they leave here.”

 

If Baylor can knock off Oklahoma later tonight, and West Virginia can defeat Texas Tech on Wednesday, the Mountaineers will lock up second place in the conference standings to secure the No. 2 seed in this year’s Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship taking place in Kansas City.

 

That’s far better than the predicted sixth-place finish for the Mountaineers at the beginning of the season.

 

“This team is resilient,” said Huggins. “They don’t always make shots, or always make the right pass, but they always play hard.”

 

However, defeating Texas Tech on Wednesday night will be no small chore.

 

Outside of Kansas, the Red Raiders (18-10, 8-8) are playing as well as any team in the conference right now. Before Saturday’s nine-point loss at Kansas, Texas Tech had won five in a row, including three straight victories over Iowa State, Baylor and Oklahoma during a seven-day period.

 

“That’s a great stretch and if you’re going to go to the NCAA tournament you have to have a stretch like that,” explained Huggins.

 

Texas Tech’s 18-point win at Baylor is particularly attention-grabbing.

 

“(Coach Tubby Smith) is playing a bunch of young guys and they’re starting to grow up,” said Huggins. “They’ve always defended well and now they’re scoring the ball better. (Toddrick) Gotcher is shooting really well for them, (Keenan) Evans has started to make shots, (Devaughntah) Williams has always been a pretty consistent scorer for them and they’re hard to guard because they’ve got a whole bunch of people who can score the ball.”

 

Earlier this year in Lubbock, West Virginia needed some late-game heroics from Tarik Phillip to pull out a come-from-behind, 80-76 victory. Texas Tech had a five-point lead with 2:26 remaining in that game before Phillip took over.

 

Other seniors to be recognized before Wednesday’s game include senior managers Justin D’Apolito, Ryan McIntyre, Joe Holland and student athletic trainer Brady Lyles.

 

The contest will be televised nationally on ESPNU and will tip off at 7 p.m. The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG’s coverage begins at 6 p.m. leading into regular game coverage at 6:30 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia and online via leanStream and the mobile app TuneIn.

 

Tickets are still available and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.