Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
West Virginia Adds Another Memorable Comeback Road Victory to the List
February 06, 2026 11:28 AM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – If you turned your TV off and went to bed at halftime during last night's West Virginia-Cincinnati game, you missed one helluva second-half comeback by the Mountaineers!
West Virginia, trailing by 14 points with 14 minutes to go, outscored the Bearcats 36-17 the rest of the way to pull out a 59-54 victory.
It was the Mountaineers' biggest comeback win on the road since erasing an 18-point deficit at Oklahoma State in 2021. Against the Cowboys, WVU's biggest deficit happened with 11:15 left before it rallied for an 87-84 victory.
Another notable comeback happened in 2017 when WVU wiped out a 16-point deficit with eight minutes to go to defeat Missouri 83-79 in the championship game of the AdvoCare Invitational in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
That was right in the middle of the "Press Virginia" years.
The Kevin Pittsnogle performance at Pitt in 2006 was certainly one for the ages.
The Martinsburg native went off for 22 points, all but two of those coming in the second half, to help WVU overcome Pitt's 14-point lead with nine minutes to go.
Yes, Pitt got Pittsnogled!
John Beilein's Mountaineers had another great comeback win at Villanova in 2006, trailing the Wildcats by 15 early in the second half before coming alive.
That contest was played at Villanova's on-campus facility, The Pavilion, and the trio of Pittsnogle, Johannes Herber and Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Mike Gansey combined to score 66 of the team's 91 points in a four-point victory.
Bucky Waters, who later had to avoid being hit with small change being thrown at him by disgruntled Duke students when he coached the Blue Devils, once engineered a 19-point comeback win when he coached the Mountaineers in 1966.
That came against Duke in the old Charleston Civic Center when WVU rallied from 19 points down in the first half. John Lesher led West Virginia with 28 points, but it was the late Bill Ryczaj's 19-point heroics coming off the bench that was the difference in a 94-90 victory.
Making the win more memorable was the fact that Duke was ranked No. 1 in the country with a 15-1 record entering the game.
The biggest comeback road win in school history happened in Syracuse's Manley Field House on Feb. 8, 1975, when coach Joedy Gardner's Mountaineers dug themselves out of a 21-point first half hole to defeat the Orange 84-81.
This was the year coach Roy Danforth, with star players Rudy Hackett, Jim Lee and Bug Williams, led Syracuse to the Final Four.
Sportswriter S.J. Easterling, in his Sunday morning column in the Charleston Gazette, took issue with game announcer Marv Albert's geographical ignorance when he consistently left the "West" off of Virginia when referencing the Mountaineers, and, according to Easterling, "that jackass analyst Bucky Waters sitting next to him and letting him do it!"
Manley Field House was always a house of horrors for opposing teams because of the persistent presence of saw dust in the arena, which former coach Sonny Moran said gave him year-long sinus infections, and the group of Syracuse football players who would shake the baskets whenever opposing teams attempted free throws.
"And those gutless officials wouldn't do a damned thing about it!" Moran once moaned.
The octogenarians still around will fondly recall West Virginia's thrilling second-half rally against St. Joseph's in the 1959 NCAA Tournament in Charlotte to defeat the Hawks 95-92.
Jerry West scored most of the points, 36, but not all of them. Little Ronnie Retton stole the inbounds pass late in the game when St. Joe's was trailing by one and made the deciding layup for his only points of the contest.
Ronnie, by the way, is the father of Olympic gymnastics legend Mary Lou Retton.
Speaking of West, who became known as Mr. Clutch during his professional days, the seeds to that famous moniker were sown during his sophomore year in 1958 when he led West Virginia from 16 points down in the second half to defeat Villanova 76-75 in Philadelphia's Palestra.
I might be confusing my games, but I believe this was the one when West, growing impatient while watching coach Fred Schaus attempting to diagram a potential winning play, interrupted him and said, "Just give me the damned ball!"
Schaus did and West delivered.
That was also the game when legendary broadcaster Jack Fleming was forced to do his announcing in the stands right in the middle of a bunch of drunk Villanova fans who were giving him the business throughout. Afterward, right before signing off the air, Fleming turned around to his Brotherly Love hecklers and said, "Take that and shove it up your ass!"
Great memories, for sure.
Coach Ross Hodge's Mountaineers gave us another fond memory last night.
Now, his 15-8 team can get themselves back into NCAA Tournament Bracketology discussion on Sunday afternoon against 13th-ranked Texas Tech at Hope Coliseum.
I am told there are a limited number of tickets remaining and the 1 p.m. FOX tipoff should give Mountaineer fans enough time afterward to return home to watch the Super Bowl.
West Virginia, trailing by 14 points with 14 minutes to go, outscored the Bearcats 36-17 the rest of the way to pull out a 59-54 victory.
It was the Mountaineers' biggest comeback win on the road since erasing an 18-point deficit at Oklahoma State in 2021. Against the Cowboys, WVU's biggest deficit happened with 11:15 left before it rallied for an 87-84 victory.
Another notable comeback happened in 2017 when WVU wiped out a 16-point deficit with eight minutes to go to defeat Missouri 83-79 in the championship game of the AdvoCare Invitational in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
That was right in the middle of the "Press Virginia" years.
The Kevin Pittsnogle performance at Pitt in 2006 was certainly one for the ages.
The Martinsburg native went off for 22 points, all but two of those coming in the second half, to help WVU overcome Pitt's 14-point lead with nine minutes to go.
Yes, Pitt got Pittsnogled!
John Beilein's Mountaineers had another great comeback win at Villanova in 2006, trailing the Wildcats by 15 early in the second half before coming alive.
That contest was played at Villanova's on-campus facility, The Pavilion, and the trio of Pittsnogle, Johannes Herber and Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Mike Gansey combined to score 66 of the team's 91 points in a four-point victory.
Bucky Waters, who later had to avoid being hit with small change being thrown at him by disgruntled Duke students when he coached the Blue Devils, once engineered a 19-point comeback win when he coached the Mountaineers in 1966.
That came against Duke in the old Charleston Civic Center when WVU rallied from 19 points down in the first half. John Lesher led West Virginia with 28 points, but it was the late Bill Ryczaj's 19-point heroics coming off the bench that was the difference in a 94-90 victory.
Making the win more memorable was the fact that Duke was ranked No. 1 in the country with a 15-1 record entering the game.
The biggest comeback road win in school history happened in Syracuse's Manley Field House on Feb. 8, 1975, when coach Joedy Gardner's Mountaineers dug themselves out of a 21-point first half hole to defeat the Orange 84-81.
This was the year coach Roy Danforth, with star players Rudy Hackett, Jim Lee and Bug Williams, led Syracuse to the Final Four.
Sportswriter S.J. Easterling, in his Sunday morning column in the Charleston Gazette, took issue with game announcer Marv Albert's geographical ignorance when he consistently left the "West" off of Virginia when referencing the Mountaineers, and, according to Easterling, "that jackass analyst Bucky Waters sitting next to him and letting him do it!"
Manley Field House was always a house of horrors for opposing teams because of the persistent presence of saw dust in the arena, which former coach Sonny Moran said gave him year-long sinus infections, and the group of Syracuse football players who would shake the baskets whenever opposing teams attempted free throws.
"And those gutless officials wouldn't do a damned thing about it!" Moran once moaned.
The octogenarians still around will fondly recall West Virginia's thrilling second-half rally against St. Joseph's in the 1959 NCAA Tournament in Charlotte to defeat the Hawks 95-92.
Jerry West scored most of the points, 36, but not all of them. Little Ronnie Retton stole the inbounds pass late in the game when St. Joe's was trailing by one and made the deciding layup for his only points of the contest.
Ronnie, by the way, is the father of Olympic gymnastics legend Mary Lou Retton.
Speaking of West, who became known as Mr. Clutch during his professional days, the seeds to that famous moniker were sown during his sophomore year in 1958 when he led West Virginia from 16 points down in the second half to defeat Villanova 76-75 in Philadelphia's Palestra.
I might be confusing my games, but I believe this was the one when West, growing impatient while watching coach Fred Schaus attempting to diagram a potential winning play, interrupted him and said, "Just give me the damned ball!"
Schaus did and West delivered.
That was also the game when legendary broadcaster Jack Fleming was forced to do his announcing in the stands right in the middle of a bunch of drunk Villanova fans who were giving him the business throughout. Afterward, right before signing off the air, Fleming turned around to his Brotherly Love hecklers and said, "Take that and shove it up your ass!"
Great memories, for sure.
Coach Ross Hodge's Mountaineers gave us another fond memory last night.
Now, his 15-8 team can get themselves back into NCAA Tournament Bracketology discussion on Sunday afternoon against 13th-ranked Texas Tech at Hope Coliseum.
I am told there are a limited number of tickets remaining and the 1 p.m. FOX tipoff should give Mountaineer fans enough time afterward to return home to watch the Super Bowl.
TV Highlights: WVU 59, Cincinnati 54
Thursday, February 05
Ross Hodge, Honor Huff & DJ Thomas | Cincinnati Postgame
Thursday, February 05
United Bank Playbook: Cincinnati Preview
Wednesday, February 04
Ross Hodge | Cincinnati Preview
Tuesday, February 03
