West Virginia Rises in the Coaches Poll

The West Virginia Mountaineers (13-4) moved up the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll to from 25th to No. 23 Monday afternoon.

West Virginia upset second-ranked Iowa State (15-2) on Saturday in Morgantown 64-57. Senior guard Javon Small recorded a game-high 27 points and secured the win in the final minute and a half, scoring 12 of the Mountaineers’ final 13 points to further make his case for Big 12 Player of the Year.

The Mountaineers fell at No. 10 Houston last Wednesday 70-54. The loss marked the first against West Virginia versus a ranked opponent this season and are 4-1 in those games.

West Virginia’s success has come off the grit and determination of its defense. The Mountaineers rank fourth in the league in scoring defense and defensive filed goal percentage while ranking 20th and 23rd in the NCAA in those categories respectively, and they sit second in the in the league and 10th nationally in defensive three-point percentage.

Senior guard Javon Small is averaging a conference-best of 19.8 points per game, while ranking fourth in assists (5.2) and sixth in steals (1.9) and three-point percentage (36.1%).

Forward Amani Hansberry is third on the team in scoring, averaging 10.2 ppg and leads the team in rebounds with 5.6 rpg. The sophomore provided a spark against Houston with 12 of his 16 points coming in the second half and hit four key threes for 12 points in the win against Iowa State.

West Virginia has been without its second leading scorer in senior forward Tucker DeVries the last nine games.

USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

1. Auburn

2. Duke

3. Alabama

4. Iowa State

5. Houston

6. Florida

7. Tennessee

8. Michigan State

9. Kentucky

10. Marquette

11. Kansas

12. Purdue

13. Texas A&M

14. Mississippi State

15. Oregon

16. Ole Miss

17. Illinois

18. UConn

19. Wisconsin

20. Michigan

21. St. John’s

22. Memphis

23. West Virginia

24. Missouri

25. Texas Tech

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