West Virginia Remains Inside the Coaches Poll Top 25

The Mountaineers stay in the coaches poll despite slip up at home

West Virginia University basketball. | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

The West Virginia Mountaineers (12-3) fell two spots in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll Monday afternoon from No. 23 to 25th.

The Mountaineers fell at home to a surging Arizona Wildcats squad last Tuesday 75-56. It marked the fourth time this season the Mountaineers shot under 40% from the field, which they are 2-2 in those games and twice Arizona held WVU under the mark and the two have split have split the season series 1-1.

The loss was the first blemish since losing the team’s second leading scorer, forward Tucker DeVries, to an injury and ended a seven-game winning streak. The Mountaineers have also been without freshman guard KJ Tenner the last two games.

West Virginia bounced back on the road against the Colorado Buffaloes Sunday afternoon. The Mountaineers led throughout most of the contest and the league’s leading scorer, senior guard Javon Small, put up 26 points while senior guard Joseph Yesufu checked in off the bench and came through with some late game heroics and scored 13 of his Mountaineer career-high 18 points in the second half to secure the victory.

West Virginia has relied on their stingy defense and ranked 12th nationally, sixth among Power Four schools, and third in the Big 12 Conference in defense field goal percentage, holding opponents to 38.4% from the floor. Additionally, WVU is seventh among Power Four schools in defensive three-point field goal percentage at 28.1%.

The Mountaineers wrap up a two-game road trip at No. 8 Houston on Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. EST and the action will stream on ESPN+.

USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

1. Auburn

2. Iowa State

3. Duke

4. Florida

5. Alabama

6. Tennessee

7. Marquette

8. Houston

9. Kentucky

10. Kansas

11. Texas A&M

12. Michigan State

13. UConn

14. Oregon

15. Purdue

16. Gonzaga

17. Memphis

18. Mississippi State

19. Michigan

20. Illinois

21. Ole Miss

22. Utah State

23. Georgia

24. Baylor

25. West Virginia

Others receiving votes: St. John's 52; Wisconsin 29; Arizona 29; New Mexico 19; Oklahoma 14; UCLA 12; Maryland 8; Texas Tech 6; Clemson 5; Saint Mary's 4; Louisville 3; Indiana 3; San Diego State 2; Missouri 2; UC Irvine 1

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