The Mountaineers Head West for PK85 Invitational

The West Virginia Mountaineers are anxious to prove they are a contender

West Virginia will get its stiffest challenge Thanksgiving weekend as the Mountaineers are set to compete in the PK85 tournament in Portland Oregon.

The field is highlighted by three top 25 teams. Gonzaga tops the list at sixth, Duke comes in at No. 8 while West Virginia’s opening round matchup, Purdue, sits at No. 24.

West Virginia, along with Xavier who is also in the eight-team field, received votes in the Coaches and AP Polls. The Mountaineers haven’t been tested like most of the programs in the field, although WVU has competed against some preseason favorites of their respective conferences, this will be a good test for a Mountaineer squad eager to prove they belong in the national discussion.

“I think our guys are excited for it,” said WVU head coach Bob Huggins. “I mean, it kind of tells us where we are what else we have got to improve on and those kinds of things.”

West Virginia has handled its opponents to start the season and hasn’t been tested in the latter stages of any contest, winning by an average of margin of 23.8 points per game.

The first matchup against Purdue features a 7’4” center averaging 20.7 points and 13.7 rebounds per game, and if the Mountaineers get past the Boilermakers, sixth-ranked Gonzaga most likely awaits then possibly No. 8 Duke.

Winning the tournament undoubtedly bolsters WVU resume but it’s the experience with all the new pieces this season that will be invaluable.

“It helps us because we’re playing quality people,” said Huggins. “It helps because we’re playing well coached teams. That’s an all-star coaching group out there. It’s not just really good teams, but they’re really good coaches and so their teams are going to be prepared. I’m sure they’ve looked at a lot of film, as have we.”

With all the newcomers in the offseason, Huggins is anxious to

Despite a 4-0 record, Huggins cites two areas of concern heading into the holiday tournament: rebounding, and defense.

“We’re last in the league in rebounding which if you’d ask a couple of our guys, they would tell you, ‘That’s cause we make more shots than you usually make.’ There might be some truth to that,” said Huggins.

The Mountaineers are shooting 50.9% from the field this season which ranks 28th in the country and their 81.0 points per game is the best mark since the 2017-18 season (91.3 ppg). However, West Virginia’s 34.2 rebounds per game ranks near the bottom of the NCAA and their rebounding margin of 2.8 is ninth in the Big 12 Conference.

Defensively, the Mountaineers reside in the top 50 nationally in scoring defense (57.3ppg / 34th) and field goal percentage (37.1% / 44th) but as the competition heats up, Huggins says the defense must improve.

“We’ve got to guard better,” said Huggins. “We really haven’t guarded very well. We’ve got to guard a whole lot better.”

While Huggins is looking for improvements, he’s also ready to throw some wrinkles at his opponents over the weekend.

“There’s some more things that we like to be able to get into the arsenal and this I think is a good opportunity to see how the things that we’re trying to explore a little bit, how they work against quality people.”

West Virginia and Purdue tip-off Thursday night at 10:00 p.m. EST on ESPN and broadcasting on ESPN. The winner will play the winner of Gonzaga and Portland State. 

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