Rapid Takeaways From WVU's Regular Season Finale Win, Sweeping UCF

The Mountaineers round out the regular season with an 18-13 record.

Mar 6, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard Honor Huff (3) shoots a three-point shot during the first half against the UCF Knights at Hope Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Senior Day was celebrated in the manner it should be, with a win. The West Virginia Mountaineers took down the UCF Knights on Friday night by a 77-62 score, giving them an 18-13 (9-9) record to end the regular season.

A few of my thoughts from this one...

Confidence restored?

Sure, the shooting percentages show it, but man, the trio of Honor Huff, Treysen Eaglestaff, and Brenen Lorient played with a different punch tonight. You could tell all three felt good about their shot, and that's great news if that can spill over into the Big 12 Conference tournament. Huff and Eaglestaff didn't hesitate to get into their shooting motion, which has been a problem for them here and there of late. Hot shooting from a three-point specialist like Huff can easily guide this team to a decent stay in Kansas City.

Another positive sign for Hodge

There's no excusing the meltdown in Manhattan, so let me just get that potential misunderstanding out of the way. But for Hodge to get this group refocused on short rest against a team that has everything to play for is impressive, especially when they are coming off a resume-buster, and everyone is saying that their only win is by winning the tournament next week. It proves that his messaging, for the most part, is hitting, particularly in adverse situations. Sweeping a likely tournament team is

A solid first year

Plenty of disappointments throughout the year, and Ross Hodge would be the first to admit that they left some games on the table. Winning 18 games is pretty remarkable when you remember that the program is on its fourth head coach in as many years. It's also one win shy of what Darian DeVries had a year ago, so in reality, WVU is in a similar situation they would have been in entering year two with DeVries had he stayed. The difference? Hodge has the highest-rated recruit in program history on the way. Sweeping Cincinnati, sweeping UCF, and pulling off upsets over BYU and Kansas is something I didn't expect coming into the year. Before the season, I had the Mountaineers going 18-13, but just 7-11 in Big 12 play. Obviously, they outperformed that by two games and finished with a .500 record in league play for the second straight season.

The Mountaineers will await their seed and opponent for the Big 12 tournament, which they'll learn after this weekend's slate of games.