West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries was obviously happy with his team's upset win over No. 7 Kansas to open Big 12 play on Tuesday, but he's not living in the past, his focus is on the present task at hand.
"I think anytime you can get a road win in this league, it's a big deal. Anytime you can come here, it's even a bigger deal because you feel like you're one-up on everybody. We told the team it's only like one team a year can come here and win typically. Our mindset was we want to be that team," DeVries said.
Tuesday's game was the first of 20 Big 12 games for the Mountaineers. While that win will go a long way on their resume, DeVries knows it doesn't matter if they can't continue to carry over that success.
The next opportunity to string that success together comes on Saturday against Oklahoma State. The Cowboys are ranked 111th in the NET rankings and are 8-4 on the season. They have losses to Florida Atlantic, Nevada, Oklahoma, and most recently to Houston to open Big 12 play.
WVU improved to 10-2 on the season and has three ranked wins. Out of all teams in the Big 12, Oklahoma State is the lowest-ranked team out of the 16-team conference in terms of NET rankings.
West Virginia's win over Kansas was their second victory over a top-ten opponent this season. The first was over then-No. 3 Gonzaga, but they followed that with a loss the next day to Louisville.
This time around, it won't be as quick of a turnaround, but DeVries knows it's a long season, and they have to bring it against Oklahoma State on Saturday.
"We also told them this is one game, there is 19 more of these left. Enjoy it, you earned a hard-fought victory, but there's going to be another one coming up on Saturday, and then there's one on Wednesday. We'll certainly take it, take the effort, get home, put it away, and move on to that next one now," DeVries said.
Tip-off between West Virginia and Oklahoma State is set for noon from the WVU Coliseum.
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