West Virginia Whimpers Out of Big 12 Tournament as March Madness Hopes Fade

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — That wasn’t the same BYU team that West Virginia played less than two weeks ago.

Wednesday’s 68-48 loss to BYU in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament was revenge for the Cougars, who lost to the Mountaineers (18-14), 79-71, on Feb. 28 in Morgantown.

But it was also adjustments for the Cougars, who not only held WVU to 48 points but forced 22 turnovers, 14 of which came in the first half. It left coach Ross Hodge feeling good that his Mountaineers were only down eight points.

“The biggest thing was they were physical,” Hodge said. “They made it hard for us to move the ball. They played some different lineup combinations.”

Hodge said that BYU’s Dominique Diomande didn’t play much in their matchup on Feb. 28. In fact, Diomande didn’t play at all in that game. He played 15 minutes on Wednesday. The Cougars also gave Mihailo Boskovic and Aleksej Kostic fewer minutes. It had an impact on how BYU defended the Mountaineers.

“I felt they were more disruptive, got their hands on balls and really good at getting us out of things we were trying to do,:” he said. “The ball moved easier two weeks ago.”

West Virginia’s Postseason Prospects Come Up Short

The loss was the Mountaineers’ sixth in their final nine games and will most likely keep them out of the NCAA Tournament. Their backslide started, ironically, after West Virginia swept rival Cincinnati, 59-54, on Feb. 5th. At the time, WVU was 15-8 with a 6-4 lead record and a favorable stretch that only featured two ranked teams. The Mountaineers were on the bubble but had control over their future.

After a lost to Texas Tech in Morgantown, the Mountaineers went to UCF and beat them on Valentine’s Day. Then the backslide began. WVU lost at home to Utah, their first Quad 3 loss of the season. Then, the Mountaineers had a road trip to face TCU and Oklahoma State, both of which were in the same bubble.

West Virginia lost both games, with a 91-84 overtime loss to the Cowboys likely ending any hope of getting back on the bubble barring a long Big 12 Tournament run. Even wining two of its last three in conference play, including that win over BYU, didn’t help.

Hodge rebuilt the Mountaineers almost from scratch in his first season. The expectations nationally were low, but his expectations were high and he maintained those high expectations throughout a season in which WVU beat two ranked big 12 teams, including Kansas at home in January.

He imported a few of his former North Texas stars to come with him. But his most notable transfer was former Chattanooga guard Honor Huff, who was the Mountaineers’ leading scorer and all-Big 12 selection. He had 17 points against BYU.

WVU’s Next Steps

The coaches had the Mountaineers finishing 11th in the preseason poll and they finished in a tie for seventh, winning the tiebreaker to be the No. 7 seed and get a single bye in the Big 12 Tournament.

West Virginia is looking forward to keeping Hodge around for a second season. He’s the fourth different head coach to lead the Mountaineers in the last four seasons.

Bob Huggins and WVU parted ways after the 2022-23 season after he was arrested for DUI in Pittsburgh that summer. He was replaced by assistant coach Josh Eilert, who served as the interim coach for the 2023-24 season but was not retained.

The Mountaineers hired Darian DeVries to take over the program last season, and he led WVU to 19 wins and barely missed the NCAA Tournament. But he was lured away by Indiana last offseason and the Mountaineers hired Hodge away from North Texas.

Assuming there isn’t a surprise on Selection Sunday, Hodge and the Mountaineers await their postseason fate. They could end up at the College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas, where the Big 12 is committed to sending its two best non-NCAA Tournament teams as part of that event. If the Mountaineers are not selected for the crown, they could end up in the postseason NIT.