MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia's five-game homestand begins Friday night with a non-conference meeting against 5-1 Eastern Kentucky.
 
The Colonels, coached by former Marshall standout player A.W. Hamilton, have lost just once to James Madison, 79-78, back on Nov. 16. EKU's wins this year have come against Georgetown (Ky.), Ohio Valley, Milwaukee, Albany and, most recently, Eastern Illinois on Monday night.
 
"They're going to press and shoot a bunch of 3s," said Bob Huggins, now fourth in NCAA history in Division I wins with 904. He recently passed Roy Williams and now only trails Mike Kryzyewski, Jim Boeheim and Jim Calhoun. "A.W. does a great job with the way they play. And the way they play is they want to play fast, they want to turn you over and they want to shoot 3s."
 
Michael Moreno, a 6-foot-7, 225-pound sophomore from Georgetown, Kentucky, leads Eastern Kentucky in scoring (13.3 ppg.), rebounding (8.0 rpg.), field goal shooting (52.6%) and steals (14).
 
The stretch forward is from Hamilton's alma mater, Scott County High, and is coming off a solid freshman season in 2020 when he averaged 10.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. 
 
Jannson Williams, a 6-foot-9, 221-pound senior forward, is a Marshall transfer who is averaging 11.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, while 6-foot-6 wing Devontae Blanton shows averages of 10 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
 
Eastern Kentucky has already taken 211 3-point shots and is averaging 85 points per game, which could indicate a fast-paced, up-and-down game on tap Friday night.
 
"It won't be a fun game for me, but it should be a fun game for the fans to watch," Huggins said.
 
West Virginia (4-1) rallied to defeat Clemson 66-59 in the third-place game of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic in Charleston, South Carolina, last Sunday.
 
Guard Sean McNeil scored all 15 of his team-high points in the second half, including some late free throws to hold off the Tigers. Guard Taz Sherman, despite being held to a season-low 12 points, earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors for his performances in the Mountaineers' other two games in Charleston.
 
The senior guard scored 21 in an 82-71 loss to Marquette on Friday night after tallying a season-high 27 in a 19-point victory over Elon.
 
Sherman leads the team with a 19 points per game average, although he is shooting just 38.2% from the floor. The senior has really struggled to connect on his 3-point field goal attempts so far this year by making just 6 of his first 29 for 20.7%.
 
McNeil is contributed 13 points per game while 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Jalen Bridges is averaging 10.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
 
The Mountaineers are averaging 71.6 points per game and are surrendering 64.2.
 
West Virginia's homestand includes games against Bellarmine (Nov. 30), Radford (Dec. 4), 22nd-ranked Connecticut (Dec. 8) and Kent State (Dec. 12).
 
Tickets for all of these games remain on sale and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.