No. 8 West Virginia faces off against No. 16 Colorado in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday. The winner advances to face No. 1 Houston on Thursday.
WVSports.com offers a look at some key elements of the match-up to get you ready for tip-off.
SERIES: West Virginia leads 1-0
LAST MEETING: Jan. 12, 2025 in Boulder — WVU 78, CU 70
TELEVISION: ESPN+ (Jon Sciambi, Fran Fraschilla, Kris Budden)
TIP-OFF: 3:00 p.m. ET
Related:
COACHES
Darian DeVries, West Virginia
19-12 (1st season at WVU), 169-67 (7th season overall)
Tad Boyle, Colorado
513-310 (15th season at CU), 607-362 (18th season overall)
LAST TIME OUT
Colorado enters the game having played on Tuesday, beating TCU 69-67. The Buffaloes made two free throws with five seconds left to take a four-point lead, before TCU made a layup right before time expired. Andrej Jakimovski led CU in scoring with 18 points and he grabbed seven rebounds on the afternoon as well. Colorado shot 41 percent from the field, going 9-for-22 from beyond the arc. TCU shot 38 percent, going 7-for-22 from the field.
West Virginia enters the game off a 72-65 win over UCF on Saturday. The Mountaineers led by 22 points at halftime, but that lead was cut to as few as three in the second half. Javon Small led WVU, scoring 25 points, while also finishing with nine assists and seven rebounds. WVU shot 41 percent from the field as a team, going 12-for-37 from deep.
By The Numbers — Colorado (13-19, 3-17 Big 12)
Colorado comes into the game 14th in the Big 12 in scoring offense, averaging 70.1 points per game. They are 10th in team field goal percentage, while they have made 32.3 percent of their shots from beyond the arc, which is 13th in the league. Over their last six games, Colorado has reached their average from distance three times and are 3-0 in those games. In the other three games they are 0-3.
Defensively, Colorado is giving up 71.7 points per game this season, which is 11th in the league. Their opponents are shooting 42.8 percent from the field, which is 10th in the Big 12, while from beyond the arc they are 13th in defense, as their opponents are making 33.9 percent of their 3-pointers.
Colorado is 9th in the league in rebounding margin, and they have attempted the second-most free throws in the Big 12 this season. Colorado is last in the Big 12 in turnover margin, averaging the most turnovers per game in conference at 14.6.
Over their last five games, their most frequent lineup on the floor has been Juliam Hammond, Javon Ruffin, Andrej Jakimovski, Trevor Baskin, and Elijah Malone. This lineup has been used 6.4 percent of the time.
Hammond leads the Buffaloes in scoring, averaging 12.7 points per game. He's also shooting 42 percent from the field and 89.7 percent from the free throw line.
Colorado comes into the game ranked 90th in the NET and 90th in KenPom. This is a Quad 1 game for Colorado and they are 1-13 in such games this season.
By The Numbers — West Virginia (19-12, 10-10 Big 12)
West Virginia is currently averaging 68.4 points per game this season, which is 15th in the Big 12, but they are only allowing 64.7 points per game this season, which is second in the Big 12. The Mountaineers are shooting 42.5 percent from the floor, but their opponents are only shooting 40.8 percent from the field this season, which is third in the league.
From beyond the arc, West Virginia is shooting 32.7 percent, which is 11th in the league, but they have the fourth-most 3-point field goals made at 8.7 per game. Defensively, West Virginia is tops in the Big 12 in opponent 3-point field goal percentage, holding opponents to 29.6 percent from beyond the arc. In these two teams' first matchup, CU shot 31.6 percent from beyond the arc (6-for-19).
WVU is last in the Big 12 in rebounding margin, and they are 10th in the Big 12 in free throws attempted and 5th in free throw percentage. WVU is 13th in turnover margin, and 7th in the league in turnovers forced per game.
Over their last five games, their most frequent lineup on the floor has been Javon Small, Sencire Harris, Jonathan Powell, Toby Okani, and Amani Hansberry. This lineup has been used 20.1 percent of the time over WVU's last five games.
Small finished the regular season at the top of the Big 12, averaging 18.5 points per game this season.
West Virginia is ranked 46th in the NET, and 51st by KenPom. This is considered a Quad 2 game for WVU as the Mountaineers are 3-2 in such games this year.
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