Monday, November 17
Morgantown, W.Va.
7 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Lafayette
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Mountaineers, Leopards to Battle on Monday Night
November 16, 2025 02:22 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia concludes its five-game homestand on Monday night at Hope Coliseum against Lafayette.
The Mountaineers are coming off an eye-opening 70-49 victory over arch-rival Pitt last Thursday night that included a 10-minute stretch of holding the Panthers scoreless, beginning late in the first half and continuing into the second.
WVU started the second half on a 12-0 run, forcing Pitt coach Jeff Capel to use two of his three timeouts in a four-minute span.
"I felt like we just did a really good job at executing what we asked our guys to do," West Virginia coach Ross Hodge said after the game. Hodge's teams are on a 27-game streak of holding its opponents below 70 points dating back to last year at North Texas. "Pitt had come into the game making more free throws than its opponents had even attempted, so we knew keeping them off the foul line was going to be big.
"They were also plus-13 in rebounding margin, so we really challenged our guys to defend without fouling and clean up the defensive rebounding," Hodge added.
WVU got checkmarks in both areas by outboarding the Panthers 34 to 31 and limiting them to just six free throw attempts.
Senior center Harlan Obioha scored a game-high 19 points on 8 of 9 shooting while Honor Huff contributed 15 and Jasper Floyd had 13.
Floyd's stat line included seven assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Impressive freshman DJ Thomas added 10 points, all of them coming in the first half, to help the Mountaineers to a 34-25 lead at intermission.
West Virginia's 22-point victory against Pitt was its largest in 39 games played in the Coliseum since its opening in 1970.
The Mountaineers, now 4-0 to start the season for the first time since 2023, are led by Huff's 15.5 points-per-game average. However, the senior is shooting just 28.6% overall and 30.6% from 3-point range.
He was one of the nation's leading 3-point shooters last season at Chattanooga.
Guard Treysen Eaglestaff is another prolific 3-point shooter still looking to find his mark. He hit one 3 during Thursday night's win against Pitt and is shooting just 26.7% from behind the arc. Last year at North Dakota, Eaglestaff scored 51 points in a game against South Dakota and had 40 in another against sixth-ranked Alabama.
Senior forward Brenen Lorient has been one of the team's most consistent performers over the first four games of the season with averages of 13.8 points and 8.0 rebounds, while Obioha is contributing 12 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest.
Floyd is averaging 11.8 points and 4.0 rebounds with a team-best 19 assists.
Thomas is giving West Virginia 7.5 points and 2.2 rebounds per game coming off the bench.
WVU's bench rotation also includes junior guard Morris Ugusuk and touted freshman guard Amir Jenkins.
"We have a very mature team, but for freshmen, (Thomas and Jenkins) are as poised and mature as you can come across," Hodge said. "I have been really pleased with that."
In addition, two key performers are getting closer to returning.
Senior guard Chance Moore must sit out Monday night's game to satisfy NCAA transfer requirements, while senior forward Jackson Fields continues to mend after suffering a preseason hand injury. Hodge indicated last week that Fields is getting closer to being ready to go.
It remains to be seen if Fields will play on Monday night against 1-3 Lafayette, which lost 97-78 at home to Cornell last Thursday night.
The Leopards also fell 97-60 to Texas and were defeated by St. Joseph's 85-76 to begin the season. Lafayette's lone win so far came against Division III Dickinson College 79-44 back on Nov. 5.
Lafayette's leading scorer is 6-foot sophomore guard Caleb Williams, who is averaging 17.5 points per game.
The Patriot League members will be making their fourth visit to the Coliseum on Monday. Two of the prior three meetings against the Leopards were losses during the 1972 and 1973 seasons.
Overall, the series is tied at 2-2.
Monday night's game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+.
Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield radio coverage with Tony Caridi and Brad Howe will get underway at 6 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
There are tickets still available and can be purchased through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
The Mountaineers are coming off an eye-opening 70-49 victory over arch-rival Pitt last Thursday night that included a 10-minute stretch of holding the Panthers scoreless, beginning late in the first half and continuing into the second.
WVU started the second half on a 12-0 run, forcing Pitt coach Jeff Capel to use two of his three timeouts in a four-minute span.
"I felt like we just did a really good job at executing what we asked our guys to do," West Virginia coach Ross Hodge said after the game. Hodge's teams are on a 27-game streak of holding its opponents below 70 points dating back to last year at North Texas. "Pitt had come into the game making more free throws than its opponents had even attempted, so we knew keeping them off the foul line was going to be big.
"They were also plus-13 in rebounding margin, so we really challenged our guys to defend without fouling and clean up the defensive rebounding," Hodge added.
WVU got checkmarks in both areas by outboarding the Panthers 34 to 31 and limiting them to just six free throw attempts.
Senior center Harlan Obioha scored a game-high 19 points on 8 of 9 shooting while Honor Huff contributed 15 and Jasper Floyd had 13.
Floyd's stat line included seven assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Impressive freshman DJ Thomas added 10 points, all of them coming in the first half, to help the Mountaineers to a 34-25 lead at intermission.
West Virginia's 22-point victory against Pitt was its largest in 39 games played in the Coliseum since its opening in 1970.
The Mountaineers, now 4-0 to start the season for the first time since 2023, are led by Huff's 15.5 points-per-game average. However, the senior is shooting just 28.6% overall and 30.6% from 3-point range.
He was one of the nation's leading 3-point shooters last season at Chattanooga.
Guard Treysen Eaglestaff is another prolific 3-point shooter still looking to find his mark. He hit one 3 during Thursday night's win against Pitt and is shooting just 26.7% from behind the arc. Last year at North Dakota, Eaglestaff scored 51 points in a game against South Dakota and had 40 in another against sixth-ranked Alabama.
Senior forward Brenen Lorient has been one of the team's most consistent performers over the first four games of the season with averages of 13.8 points and 8.0 rebounds, while Obioha is contributing 12 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest.
Floyd is averaging 11.8 points and 4.0 rebounds with a team-best 19 assists.
Thomas is giving West Virginia 7.5 points and 2.2 rebounds per game coming off the bench.
WVU's bench rotation also includes junior guard Morris Ugusuk and touted freshman guard Amir Jenkins.
"We have a very mature team, but for freshmen, (Thomas and Jenkins) are as poised and mature as you can come across," Hodge said. "I have been really pleased with that."
In addition, two key performers are getting closer to returning.
Senior guard Chance Moore must sit out Monday night's game to satisfy NCAA transfer requirements, while senior forward Jackson Fields continues to mend after suffering a preseason hand injury. Hodge indicated last week that Fields is getting closer to being ready to go.
It remains to be seen if Fields will play on Monday night against 1-3 Lafayette, which lost 97-78 at home to Cornell last Thursday night.
The Leopards also fell 97-60 to Texas and were defeated by St. Joseph's 85-76 to begin the season. Lafayette's lone win so far came against Division III Dickinson College 79-44 back on Nov. 5.
Lafayette's leading scorer is 6-foot sophomore guard Caleb Williams, who is averaging 17.5 points per game.
The Patriot League members will be making their fourth visit to the Coliseum on Monday. Two of the prior three meetings against the Leopards were losses during the 1972 and 1973 seasons.
Overall, the series is tied at 2-2.
Monday night's game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+.
Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield radio coverage with Tony Caridi and Brad Howe will get underway at 6 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
There are tickets still available and can be purchased through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
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/ Men's BasketballPitt Game Cinematic Recap
Sunday, November 16
TV Highlights: WVU 71, Pitt 49
Friday, November 14
Ross Hodge | Pitt Postgame
Thursday, November 13
Harlan Obioha, Honor Huff & Jasper Floyd | Pitt Postgame
Thursday, November 13
