MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Another stiff challenge awaits West Virginia when the Mountaineers meet 25^th-ranked Texas Saturday night at the WVU Coliseum.
 
The Longhorns are currently 12-3 overall, 1-1 in Big 12, and most recently rallied to defeat Cincinnati 74-73 last Tuesday night.
 
Texas began conference play by losing 78-67 to Texas Tech. UT's other two losses this year were 81-71 to fifth-ranked Connecticut on Nov. 20 and 86-65 to eighth-ranked Marquette on Dec. 6.
 
The Longhorns' power conference wins were against Louisville, 81-80, on Nov. 19, and against LSU, 96-85, on Dec. 16.
 
In Tuesday night's victory over Cincinnati, 6-foot-9 forward Dylan Disu scored 33 points on 13 of 23 shooting, including 4 of 10 from 3-point distance, but it was guard Max Abmas' basket with 6.2 seconds left that provided the winning margin.
 
There were 14 lead changes in the game.
 
Texas was without 6-foot-11, 231-pound senior forward Kadin Shedrick, injured in the Texas Tech loss.
 
"I don't know what Shedrick's situation is going to be," West Virginia coach Josh Eilert said. "It looks like he had some back spasms in the Texas Tech game and didn't see any action against Cincinnati, but if he is still injured Disu would be the starting five-man and he's very, very talented."
 
Texas capitalized on points off turnovers, outscoring the Bearcats 22 to 13 and Eilert is also wary of the Longhorns' transition offense. He believes Texas is at its best when it pushes the ball up the court.
 
"Defensive transition is a big concern," Eilert said. "They're one of the best teams in the country at going downhill, so we've got to figure out how to get back and get matched."
 
Against the Bearcats, Texas used a starting lineup consisting of Disu, 6-foot-8 sophomore Dillon Mitchell and 6-foot-6 senior Brock Cunningham at forwards, with 6-foot guards Abmas and Tyrese Hunter in the backcourt.
 
Abmas, an Oral Roberts transfer, leads Texas with an average of 17.1 points per game. Disu, a former Vanderbilt transfer who has played the last two seasons at Texas, is averaging 14.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per contest.
 
Hunter, a junior who began his collegiate career at Iowa State, shows averages of 13 points and 2.7 rebounds per game while Mitchell, once the nation's No. 4-ranked prospect out Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida, is averaging 11.3 points and a team-best 9.1 rebounds per game.
 
Texas is averaging 78 points per game, which could be an issue for a Mountaineer team that has given up 89 and 81 points in their two conference losses to Houston and Kansas State.
 
In the Kansas State game on Tuesday night, the Wildcats shot 58.3% overall including several backdoor layups and dunks.
 
West Virginia (5-10, 0-2) got 21 points from its leading scorer RaeQuan Battle, but the guard was limited to just 3 points in the second half. Battle opened conference play at third-ranked Houston by scoring just 4 points on 1 of 9 shooting.
 
In five games, Battle is averaging 21.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and is shooting 42.3% from the floor. Forward Quinn Slazinski, once averaging 17.3 points per game following a 20-point performance at UMass, has seen his scoring average dip to 14.5 points per contest. In successive games, the 6-foot-9 forward has scored 4 against Radford, 14 against Toledo, 11 against Ohio State, 8 against Houston and 7 last Tuesday against Kansas State.
 
The Mountaineers' other double-digit scorer is guard Noah Farrakhan, who is averaging 13.7 points in six games so far this season.
 
Against K-State, Eilert used a starting lineup consisting of forwards Josiah Harris and Patrick Suemnick to go with guards Battle, Farrakhan and Kerr Kriisa, who is handing out a team-best 5.7 assists per game.
 
"We don't have the chemistry that everyone else had in the summer and the normal buildup getting to Big 12 play, so it's an everyday process," Eilert said. "Right now, we want to continue to see our guys in the right frame of mind and continue see guys who want to come in and be a part of the solution."
 
Forward Jesse Edwards, who suffered a wrist injury in the UMass loss back on Dec. 16, missed his fifth game last Tuesday night and is not expected to suit up against the Longhorns.
 
Eilert said earlier today Edwards' is continuing to recover and is hopeful of getting him back on the floor soon.
 
"It's kind of like construction, they tell you two weeks, and it ends up being four, but in these situations, we've got to do what's best for Jesse so we're not going to compromise that and put him in a situation to where it could affect long-term," Eilert said.
 
Saturday's game is one of two meetings against Texas. The Mountaineers will return the trip to Austin on Saturday, Feb. 10.
 
A 6 p.m. tipoff has been established for Saturday's Gold Rush game, which will be televised on ESPN+ (Eric Rothman and Bryndon Manzer). Rally towels, courtesy of Coca-Cola, have already been distributed throughout the WVU Coliseum.
 
Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage with Tony Caridi will begin at 5 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
 
Tickets remain and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.