West Virginia Concludes a Two-Game Road Trip at TCU

Fort Worth, TX - West Virginia is back on the road to take on TCU Wednesday night.

The Mountaineers (14-7, 5-5) ended a three-game skid on Sunday with a 63-50 win against Cincinnati. West Virginia’s leading scorer, Javon Small, bounced back with 19 points and eight assists after missing double figures for the first time this season. The senior guard averages a Big 12 Conference best 19.0 points per game.

West Virginia received a much-needed boost off the bench from senior guard Joseph Yesufu’s 16 points on a perfect 6-6 from the field, including 4-4 from three-point range. Yesufu and Small did most of the damage from behind the arc, combining to shoot for 8-11 from three.

“We’ve been struggling the last couple of games, so you go 9-18 that certainly helps as well,” West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries said. “I though Joe came in and gave us a huge spark off the bench. He gave us that other scorer that we haven’t had as consistent the last few games.”

While West Virginia continues to find answers on the offensive end of the floor, the defense has struggled to find consistency. The Mountaineers started Big 12 play 2-0, holding Kansas and Oklahoma State to a combined 35.9% shooting from the floor. On Sunday, WVU held Cincinnati to 31.5% from the field, marking the first time since in seven games the defense held an opponent to under 40%.

“When you’re that connected defensively then offensively you can go make plays and play unselfishly and I think they really tied in together,” DeVries said.

TCU ended a three-game losing streak with a 68-57 win over Colorado on Sunday. Freshman guard David Punch produced a career-high 19 points, while the team’s leading scorer, Noah Reynolds, put in 11 points.

Reynolds is averaging 12.3 ppg on the season, but in conference action, the Green Bay senior transfer is scoring 15.8 ppg, which ranks sixth in the league.

The Horned Frogs (11-10, 4-6), like West Virginia, have grown cold from the field in Big 12 play, shooting 41% and have struggled on the defense allowing 71.0 ppg on 47.2% shooting from the floor, and hold a -3.4 rebounding margin.

West Virginia leads the series against TCU 18-7.

The Mountaineers and the Horned Frogs will tip-off at 8:00 p.m. EST and the action will stream on ESPN+.