Monday, December 22
Morgantown, W.Va.
7 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Mississippi Valley State
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Mountaineers, Delta Devils to Clash Monday Night
December 21, 2025 06:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia players have used the time since its 89-88 double-overtime loss to Ohio State in Cleveland to recharge themselves.
WVU was unable to hold on to a 16-point second half lead in the loss to the Buckeyes, continuing a trend that saw it lose a double-digit second half lead to Clemson in its three-point defeat to the Tigers in Charleston, South Carolina, in late November.
With the exception of a 71-49 home victory over now 6-6 Pitt, the Mountaineers did not fare well in its power conference clashes outside of Big 12 play.
WVU also dropped a 78-68 decision to Xavier in Charleston, South Carolina, and fell 75-66 to Wake Forest in Charleston, West Virginia.
Those represent the team's four defeats to date.
Ohio State, incidentally, lost by one to 12th-ranked North Carolina in yesterday's CBS Sports Classic game played in Atlanta.
After Monday night's final nonconference game against Mississippi Valley State at Hope Coliseum, West Virginia jumps into the deep end of Big 12 play at Hilton Coliseum on Jan. 2 against fourth-ranked and undefeated Iowa State, which blew out former No. 1-ranked Purdue by 23 points in West Lafeyette earlier this month.
"It's been finals week and guys were finishing up classes, and it has given us an opportunity to do a couple of different things," West Virginia coach Ross Hodge said via Zoom on Thursday. "It has given us some much-needed mental and physical rest coming off last Saturday's game, and then also it gives us the ability to focus on ourselves for the week."
Despite allowing 89 points to the Buckeyes - 21 of those coming in the two extra sessions - the Mountaineers rank fifth in the country in scoring defense allowing 60.9 points per game. Two of the four teams ahead of them, Duke and Houston, are third and eighth respectively in this week's AP poll.
Seven times this year West Virginia (8-4) has held its opposition to fewer than 60 points in a game.
Senior guard Honor Huff continues to lead the country in 3-point field goals (49) and 3-point field goal attempts (117), while he is second in 3-point field goals per game (4.08).
However, he is not listed among the nation's top 50 in 3-point field goal percentage at 41.9%. The cutoff for the top 50 is Cal Poly's Hamad Mousa, who is shooting at a 42.3% clip.
Huff leads the Mountaineers in scoring with an average of 17.8 points per game. He is coming off a 24-point performance in the Ohio State loss, and his late 3-pointer temporarily gave the Mountaineers an 88-87 lead.
He has a streak of scoring 24 points in three consecutive games and has done it four times so far this year. He also had a team-high 23 in the home win against Campbell.
WVU's other two double-digit scorers are Chance Moore at 12.3 points per game, and Brenen Lorient at 10.9 points per game.
Lorient is coming off an impressive 7-for-7 shooting performance with 18 points in the Ohio State loss.
Moore and senior guard Jasper Floyd contributed 14 points each against the Buckeyes.
Senior forward Jackson Fields has now been with the team for the last five games after missing the first month of the season while recovering from a preseason wrist injury. He played a season-high 26 minutes against Ohio State and tallied 7 points with four rebounds.
The return of Fields has given West Virginia its full complement of players.
"We've have tried to do a lot of what we haven't had a chance to do in the fall, which is practice with our entire team, so that's been nice," Hodge said.
West Virginia's game against Mississippi Valley State of the Southwestern Athletic Conference will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+.
Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield radio coverage with Tony Caridi, Brad Howe and David Kahn begins at 6 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
Tickets still remain and can be purchased through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
Monday night's game will be the Delta Devils' third Coliseum appearance, their last coming in 2017 when WVU came away with an 88-71 victory.
Mississippi Valley State graduate George Ivory coaches the team.
WVU was unable to hold on to a 16-point second half lead in the loss to the Buckeyes, continuing a trend that saw it lose a double-digit second half lead to Clemson in its three-point defeat to the Tigers in Charleston, South Carolina, in late November.
With the exception of a 71-49 home victory over now 6-6 Pitt, the Mountaineers did not fare well in its power conference clashes outside of Big 12 play.
WVU also dropped a 78-68 decision to Xavier in Charleston, South Carolina, and fell 75-66 to Wake Forest in Charleston, West Virginia.
Those represent the team's four defeats to date.
Ohio State, incidentally, lost by one to 12th-ranked North Carolina in yesterday's CBS Sports Classic game played in Atlanta.
After Monday night's final nonconference game against Mississippi Valley State at Hope Coliseum, West Virginia jumps into the deep end of Big 12 play at Hilton Coliseum on Jan. 2 against fourth-ranked and undefeated Iowa State, which blew out former No. 1-ranked Purdue by 23 points in West Lafeyette earlier this month.
"It's been finals week and guys were finishing up classes, and it has given us an opportunity to do a couple of different things," West Virginia coach Ross Hodge said via Zoom on Thursday. "It has given us some much-needed mental and physical rest coming off last Saturday's game, and then also it gives us the ability to focus on ourselves for the week."
Despite allowing 89 points to the Buckeyes - 21 of those coming in the two extra sessions - the Mountaineers rank fifth in the country in scoring defense allowing 60.9 points per game. Two of the four teams ahead of them, Duke and Houston, are third and eighth respectively in this week's AP poll.
Seven times this year West Virginia (8-4) has held its opposition to fewer than 60 points in a game.
Senior guard Honor Huff continues to lead the country in 3-point field goals (49) and 3-point field goal attempts (117), while he is second in 3-point field goals per game (4.08).
However, he is not listed among the nation's top 50 in 3-point field goal percentage at 41.9%. The cutoff for the top 50 is Cal Poly's Hamad Mousa, who is shooting at a 42.3% clip.
Huff leads the Mountaineers in scoring with an average of 17.8 points per game. He is coming off a 24-point performance in the Ohio State loss, and his late 3-pointer temporarily gave the Mountaineers an 88-87 lead.
He has a streak of scoring 24 points in three consecutive games and has done it four times so far this year. He also had a team-high 23 in the home win against Campbell.
WVU's other two double-digit scorers are Chance Moore at 12.3 points per game, and Brenen Lorient at 10.9 points per game.
Lorient is coming off an impressive 7-for-7 shooting performance with 18 points in the Ohio State loss.
Moore and senior guard Jasper Floyd contributed 14 points each against the Buckeyes.
Senior forward Jackson Fields has now been with the team for the last five games after missing the first month of the season while recovering from a preseason wrist injury. He played a season-high 26 minutes against Ohio State and tallied 7 points with four rebounds.
The return of Fields has given West Virginia its full complement of players.
"We've have tried to do a lot of what we haven't had a chance to do in the fall, which is practice with our entire team, so that's been nice," Hodge said.
West Virginia's game against Mississippi Valley State of the Southwestern Athletic Conference will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+.
Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield radio coverage with Tony Caridi, Brad Howe and David Kahn begins at 6 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
Tickets still remain and can be purchased through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
Monday night's game will be the Delta Devils' third Coliseum appearance, their last coming in 2017 when WVU came away with an 88-71 victory.
Mississippi Valley State graduate George Ivory coaches the team.
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballRoss Hodge | Mississippi Valley State Preview
Thursday, December 18
United Bank Playbook: Ohio State Preview
Friday, December 12
TV Highlights: WVU 90, Little Rock 58
Wednesday, December 10
Ross Hodge | Little Rock Postgame
Tuesday, December 09
