West Virginia Looks to Return the Favor Against No. 25 BYU

Provo, UT – West Virginia takes on No. 25 BYU for the second time this season in the first of a two-game road swing for WVU Saturday night.

BYU is currently riding a five-game winning streak that began with a 73-69 victory against WVU in Morgantown over two weeks ago. marking the first of three road wins during the stretch for the Cougars (20-8, 11-6) and wrapped up a two-game road trip with wins against Arizona and Arizona State. Additionally, wins over No. 23 Kansas and at No. 19 Arizona was the first consecutive wins over top 25 opponents since 1988.

In the first meeting, West Virginia held BYU’s leading scorer Richie Saunders (15.9 ppg) to nine points, but six-foot-nine freshman point guard Egor Demin, the Cougars’ second leading scorer, put in 16 points against the Mountaineers.

Richie Saunders is second in the conference in scoring during Big 12 play at 18.1 ppg, and in the last three games, the junior has averaged 23.7 ppg.

In Big 12 Conference action, BYU leads the league in field goal percentage (48.8%) and three-pointers made (181) while ranking second in scoring at 78.2 ppg.

The Mountaineers (17-11, 8-9) have won two of their last three games and are coming off a resounding 73-55 avenge win against TCU, with the lone loss was on the road at No. 9 Texas Tech.

West Virginia’s success has come from the defensive end of the floor. In conference play, West Virginia ranks fifth in defensive field goal percentage at 42.8%, which the Mountaineers are 7-2 when holding Big 12 opponents under the mark with both losses coming on the road, and rank second in defensive scoring (64.4).

West Virginia is led Javon Small. The senior guard is averaging 18.4 points and 5.6 assists per game, while sophomore guard Sencire Harris is the catalyst on the defensive end of the floor, highlighted in his most recent outing igniting the Mountaineer defense with a pair of steals in the win against TCU on Tuesday.

West Virginia and BYU will tip-off at 10:00 p.m. EST and the action will broadcast on ESPN2.

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