West Virginia has their final road trip of the season this weekend, starting with an away tilt against No. 25 BYU.
WVSports.com offers a look at some key elements of the match-up to get you ready for tip-off.
SERIES: BYU leads 3-1
LAST MEETING: Feb. 11, 2025 in Morgantown — BYU 73, WVU 69
TELEVISION: ESPN2 (Rich Hollenberg / King McClure)
TIP-OFF: 10:00 p.m. ET
COACHES
Darian DeVries, West Virginia
17-11 (1st season at WVU), 167-66 (7th season overall)
Kevin Young, BYU
20-8 (1st season at BYU, 1st season overall)
LAST TIME OUT
BYU enters Saturday off a 91-81 win over Arizona State on the road on Wednesday. It was the Cougars' fifth straight win and their third game of scoring at least 90 points in a game. BYU scored 47 points in the first half, going 10-for-22 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes of the game. Richie Saunders led the Cougars in scoring with 26 points.
West Virginia enters Wednesday off a 73-55 win over TCU on Tuesday night. The Mountaineers shot 59 percent from the field in the first half, and they made 11 3-pointers in total on the night. Javon Small led WVU with eight makes from beyond the arc and he scored 32 points and had 10 assists.
By The Numbers — BYU (20-8, 11-6 Big 12)
BYU comes into Saturday second in the Big 12 in scoring, averaging 81.1 points per game this season. Over their last five games they have averaged 86.2 points per game. Their lowest scoring output over their last five games was 73 in a win over West Virginia. The Cougars have the best team field goal percentage in the league at 48.7 percent, and they are third in 3-point field goal percentage, making 37.5 percent of their shots from beyond the arc.
BYU's defense is ranked 8th in the Big 12, holding opponents to 69.9 points per game on the year.
During Big 12 play, the Cougars are 11th in scoring defense, holding their opponents to 73.3 points per game. Teams are shooting 44.8 percent against the Cougars this year and WVU shot 46.6 percent against BYU in their first meeting. BYU is also 13th in the Big 12 in opponent 3-point field goal percentage.
BYU is seventh in the Big 12 in rebounding margin, and they are 12th in the league in turnover margin this year during league play as well.
Over their last five games, their most frequent lineup on the floor has been Egor Demin, Trevin Knell, Richie Saunders, Mawot Mag, and Keba Keita. This lineup has been used 25.1 percent of the time. The second-most used lineup has been used only 4.5 percent of the time over BYU's last five games.
Saunders and Demin lead the Cougars offensively. Saunders is averaging 15.9 points per game this season while Demin is scoring 10.6 points per game.
BYU comes into the game ranked 28th in the NET. This is a Quad 2 game for the Cougars and they are 5-2 in such games this season. BYU is 4-6 in Quad 1 games. During their five-game winning streak, BYU is 4-0 against Quad 1 opponents.
By The Numbers — West Virginia (17-11, 8-9 Big 12)
West Virginia is coming off one of their better offensive performances of Big 12 play against TCU. The Mountaineers are 15th in the league in scoring offense, averaging 68.6 points per game this season. WVU is shooting 42.8 percent from the field this season, which is 13th in the Big 12. West Virginia has eclipsed the 70-point mark three times in their last six games. WVU is 2-1 in those three games.
The Mountaineers are shooting 32.7 percent from beyond the arc this season, but they have the fifth-most made 3-pointers in the Big 12 on the year with 8.7 per game.
Defensively, West Virginia is among the best in the Big 12. The Mountaineers are second in scoring defense, third in opponent field goal percentage, and first in opponent 3-point field goal percentage. WVU is forcing 12.9 turnovers per game this season as well.
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 26.8 percent of the time.
WVU's leading scorer is Small, who is also second in the Big 12 in scoring. He is averaging 18.4 points per game this season.
West Virginia is ranked 46th in the NET. This is a Quad 1 game for West Virginia and they are 5-8 in such games this season. The Mountaineers' last win over a Quad 1 opponent came on Feb. 2 against Cincinnati.
NCAA Tournament and Big 12 Standings Implications
Both BYU and West Virginia are currently predicted to be in the NCAA Tournament. BYU is currently projected to be an eight seed, while WVU is a 10 seed according to Bracket Matrix.
BYU is currently 11-6 in the Big 12 and they are 5th in the league standings. BYU is tied with Iowa State at 11-6 in the league. WVU is currently 8-9 in the league standings and they are 9th in the pecking order. WVU is one of three teams at 8-9 along with TCU and Baylor. Three teams (Utah, Kansas State, Cincinnati) are right behind WVU at 7-10 in Big 12 play.
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