Javon Small is a key piece to what West Virginia wants to do. That much is known.
But this basketball team is much better when those around him are helping him like what unfolded in the 72-61 win over Utah.
Small only took five shots in the game but finished with 14 points and 8 assists without turning the ball over while playing a total of 36 minutes.
“Like we talked about all year, all Javon cares about is winning. Tonight they put a pretty good focus on Von and not letting him get a lot of clean opportunities. I thought Von did a terrific job of taking what the defense gave him and he was able to capitalize,” head coach Darian DeVries said.
Three players were in double figures outside of Small with sophomore forward Amani Hansberry scoring 17 points, senior guard Joe Yesufu scoring 14 points and freshman guard Jonathan Powell chipping in with 11 points. Senior forward Toby Okani also just narrowly missed that line with 9 points as well as contributions in many other areas.
“It's always very important. These guys show it every day in practice how well they can shoot, how well they can play and I was happy that it showed on the court today,” Yesufu said.
Those contributions helped West Virginia shoot 48-percent from the field and 38-percent from three in helping the Mountaineers put together their best effort on that end of the floor.
“That just gives us such a big spark as an offense. OK, you take Javon away but we’ve got other guys that can step up and make shots, too,” DeVries said.
The Mountaineers understand that they’re going to need more than Small to win basketball games and the buy-in across the roster is exactly what the coaching staff wants to see. And there’s more to it than just scoring. It comes in with hustle plays on defense, rebounding and various other aspects.
That was especially evident with Okani who, on top of his nine points, had 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals across 37 minutes. The sequence where Okani blocked a shot at the rim and then was able to make a three at the other end was a major catalyst in West Virginia building a lead.
Powell also had another similar sequence where he stole the ball after picking up full court and was able to finish at the other end to put the Mountaineers up 10 points late. Powell has been able to continue to develop as a true freshman and it’s a sign of his overall maturity.
“We need other things to win games. The buy-in to wanting to go do those tough things, those little things that maybe aren’t noticed every night but if you can do that and have an impact of winning without scoring a basket that’s when your team and culture are good,” DeVries said.
West Virginia needs the team’s roster to continue to have confidence in shooting the ball moving forward and if the program is able to get that type of production moving forward it will lead to strong results from the auxiliary pieces on the roster.
“They put in the work and they’re good shooters so I’m excited to see what this stretch run looks like for them,” DeVries said.
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