Ross Hodge Provides an Assessment of the Mountaineers Win Against Miss Valley State

West Virginia rolled Mississippi Valley State Monday night 86-51. The Mountaineers (9-4) shot 53.6% from the field, while holding the Delta Devils (1-12) to 34% shooting from the floor.

WVU forward Treysen Eaglestaff tied a season-high 23 points, center Harlan Obioha reached double figures for the first time in eight games and recorded his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman guard Amir Jenkins tied a career-best 10 points.

West Virginia head coach Ross Hodge met with the media following the game and discussed the Mountaineers ninth win of the season.

Opening Statement

“I want to start out by telling, on behalf of myself and everybody in the program, just how appreciative we are of the crowd tonight. It’s not Christmas Eve, but getting close, and a lot of people doing a lot of different stuff. When I walked out there before tip, I was like, man, this is a good crowd under the circumstances. There's a lot going on, a lot of reasons to maybe not come. But again, in my opinion, that's what makes this place special and makes this job special. I just want to appreciate everybody who showed up.

“I had talked about it just now on the radio but had an interaction when I was walking over to the gym. There's a little boy named Levi. It was his first game that he had ever been to - his first WVU game. His dad said he woke up at 7 a.m. this morning and was fully clothed and had his raccoon hat on. You could just see how excited he was. And again, that's something I don't ever want to take for granted, man. So, I just appreciate everybody in that manner.

“I thought our guys did a good job of just honoring the game, respecting the game, playing the game the right way, playing unselfish basketball and outside of a little stretch, probably from the 15-minute mark to maybe the 10-minute mark of the first half, I felt like we played a pretty solid game. So, all in all, our guys will be getting out of here tomorrow, and they'll be coming back on the 27th, so obviously, I hope they have safe travels and get a chance to spend some time with their loved ones.”

On senior forward Chance Floor not seeing the floor

He wasn't feeling great during warm-ups, and it wasn't really like anything major, or anything that we feel concerned about moving forward. It just wasn't feeling great and we just kind of made a decision as a staff and as a training staff that probably, in the best interest to not put him out there. He’s been a full participant. There was nothing that happened, nothing that gave us any inclination that this could even be a possibility. He just wasn't feeling good enough and wasn't feeling great. So, you never want to put somebody out there in a compromising situation like that. But, yeah, he hasn't missed any practice time, any workouts - nothing,

On the play of freshman forward DJ Thomas and freshman guard Amir Jenkins

Both of those guys, in their own way, have kind of shown the ability in different periods of this nonconference that when we've kind of needed a little spurt and needed a little boost, they've been more than comfortable in stepping into those situations. And like I said, nobody works harder than Amir, and so to see him kind of step into a couple of threes with some confidence. And, you know, their defensive presence, and DJ is such a skilled player. He's such a good passer. And I thought he did a really good job in the middle of the zone, because when you get it to the middle, they kind of fan out and man up in the zone. And he was able to exploit that and go get some buckets made a big three. It was awesome to see for those guys.

Opening Statement

On senior forward Chance Floor not seeing the floor

On the play of freshman forward DJ Thomas and freshman guard Amir Jenkins

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