Stock Up, Stock Down: Evaluations Following WVU's Stunning Win Over BYU

WVU took down No. 19 BYU on Saturday evening and really controlled the game from start to finish. They closed out the first half strong and finished the game the same way after the Cougars made their run.

Here's the latest WVU basketball stock report.

Stock Up: Brenen Lorient

B-Lo has been the most valuable piece to the Mountaineers' offense throughout the majority of Big 12 Conference play. He's reached double figures in nine straight games and was one rebound shy of a double-double in this one, going for 18 points and nine boards. Seven of those rebounds came on the offensive end, setting a career high for him on that end of the floor. Just a fantastic performance that was fueled by terrific effort. If WVU has any shot of making the NCAA Tournament, he's going to be a big reason why.

Stock Down: Hodge Hate

Even before the three-game slide, there was a big portion of the Mountaineer fan base who didn't believe in Hodge. Some have even gone as far as calling for his job. No, I'm not making this up, either. Just ridiculous thinking, but it's out there. Winning this game against a top-20 team, which has a projected top-two pick rostered, should quiet that hate at least until tomorrow night's game against Kansas State. Give the man some credit. He has this team in the exact same spot as DeVries did a year ago.

Stock Up: Chance Moore

Moore put up 11 points in this game, but it was his defense, rebounding, and free-throw shooting that stood out to me. Moore has had issues at the charity stripe all season long, and he's well aware of it. He went 3/4 from the line, making some much-needed shots to help WVU put the game away. He also came up with a clutch steal and pulled down a massive defensive rebound toward the end of the game. The job he did defensively, along with Lorient, on AJ Dybantsa was impressive. They really had him frustrated all night outside of a mini 4/4 stretch.

Stock Up: Ball Movement

The ball can move, after all! We saw a little bit of this in the loss to Oklahoma State earlier in the week, but the ball movement in this game was the best it's been in a long, long time. Rarely did they dribble into traps or pick up their dribble too soon. The ball popped around the arc, and there wasn't nearly as much east-west movement with it, which is a good indication that you're putting some pressure on the rim and spacing the floor. 17 assists on 27 made field goals is a pretty strong number.