West Virginia had every opportunity to fold on Tuesday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse against No. 7 Kansas.
Instead, they turned in the program's first-ever victory in that building as they didn't let any excuses get to them.
"Incredibly proud of the guy's efforts, especially with the circumstances — the injuries, the travel. Like we talked about, there are no excuses in this program. We're going to lineup, we're going to go compete," West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries said postgame.
The Mountaineers led by as many as 18 in the opening minutes of the second half but had their lead cut to zero as Kansas tied the game at 61-61 with 16 seconds to play. WVU put the ball in Javon Small's hands as he drew a foul before making the second of two free throw attempts, which helped the Mountaineers seal the 62-61 upset victory.
"I thought, what a gritty effort by him. I probably subbed him for 45 seconds total tonight, and he was exhausted, and he should've been. Like I told him before the game, we need you to have the ball in your hands, and we're going to put all of this on you because you've been here before, you've done this, you've been in these environments, and we trust you to make these decisions. And he did an unbelievable job of that and facilitating," DeVries said.
Small finished the game with 13 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists on the afternoon.
All in all, though, DeVries said this win was a byproduct of how he's built this program in his first year at the helm.
DeVries' main message to his team as they worked through the game was to block out the 15,000 or so Kansas fans in attendance and focus on the game on the court.
"This atmosphere for my first time coaching here, being a part of this, was everything it was made out to be. Like I told them, [the fans] aren't playing for them. When we're out on that floor, it's our five versus their five, nothing else matters," DeVries said.
The Mountaineers dealt with mechanical issues on their plane to Lawrence, Kansas, causing them to miss their shootaround this morning before the game. They also were without Tucker DeVries for the fourth consecutive game, and starting center Amani Hansberry was sidelined with an injury.
"Like I told them in the locker room, there wasn't anybody, very few at least, outside of this locker room, considering the injuries and things that probably thought we were coming in here and winning today, but that group in that locker room did, and they believed in it," DeVries said.
The Mountaineers improved to 1-11 all-time in road games against Kansas, and they picked up their 10th win of the season, which exceeds the win total from the Mountaineers' 2023-2024 squad.
WVU is back in action on Saturday when they return home to face Oklahoma State.
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