Score Predictions for West Virginia at Texas

The West Virginia Mountaineers (11-1) open conference play on the road at the No. 17 Texas Longhorns (10-2) Saturday at noon EST and will be televised on ESPNU.

Schuyler Callihan: Texas 63, West Virginia 54

I'll be completely transparent with you all - I have absolutely no idea what to expect when the ball is thrown up in the air this afternoon in Austin. Not only have these two teams been off for quite some time due to the break for the holidays, but West Virginia is going to be down a couple of guys, however, we don't know who those players are.

What I do know is, Texas is big, long, and super athletic. They do a terrific job defending the paint, averaging 3.7 blocks per game as a team. Dylan Disu averages 2.5 himself. With WVU's struggles on the inside, this just seems like a recipe for disaster. Until the Mountaineers get better/more consistent production from their bigs on the offensive end of the floor, they will have a hard time scoring the ball efficiently. Taz Sherman and Sean McNeil can only take this team so far. Isaiah Cottrell, Pauly Paulicap, and even Gabe Osabuohien have to up their game.

I expect a super slow start to this one, with both teams coming out of the gate flat. It's hard to get back into a rhythm shooting the ball when there has been this long of a break. So I'll take Texas in a low-scoring, ugly affair.

Christopher Hall: Texas 71 West Virginia 60

Questions still surround this West Virginia team. In years past, if West Virginia were sitting with an overall record of 11-1 heading into conference play, they would be in the top 20. However, the Mountaineers' margin of victory has scared off voters. Meanwhile, Texas is sitting ranked without a win over a top 25 opponent. In fact, both of the Lonhorns' losses came against ranked opponents. Nonetheless, with the addition of head coach Chris Beard in the offseason, he has his squad as one of the top defenses in the country, holding opponents to a nation's best 51.3 points per game.

On the other hand, West Virginia has not had that "wow" factor despite beating a top 15 UConn team, although the Huskies were down two starters (They still went into St. Bonaventure days later and won with the same team). Regardless, West Virginia has struggled to find offense outside of leading scorers Taz Sherman and Sean McNeil, but they have found ways to win. I don't expect the Mountaineers to win the Big 12 opener on the road against a conference contender. I don't know what to expect from this group, but they continue to grind out wins. I would not be surprised if West Virginia knocked off the Longhorns, but it's a big task for a group that's still trying to come together early in conference play. Texas takes game one, 71-60.

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