Photo by Ben Queen-USA Today Sports
West Virginia Set For Toughest Week Yet
This week for West Virginia poses a huge opportunity to boost their resume.
This Wednesday, the Mountaineers will host the 3rd ranked Kansas Jayhawks as they will be hungry for revenge following their loss back on January 4th in Lawrence. Then, this Saturday the Mountaineers will travel to Waco to face the top ranked Baylor Bears.
West Virginia has normally gotten the best of Kansas in Morgantown. Since joining the Big 12 in 2012, West Virginia is 5-2 against Kansas in Morgantown. The Mountaineers will once again try to slow down Kansas big man, Udoka Azubuike, and their leading scorer, Devon Dotson, as the team hopes to upset the Jayhawks once again in front of a sold out crowd. This game will tip-off on Wednesday night at 7pm EST and is only available on ESPN+.
Waco can be a tough place to play for road teams. Baylor has jumped out to an impressive 22-1 record and are ranked the No. 1 team in the NCAA. Solid guard play for the Bears, led by Jared Butler and Macio Teague have helped the Bears outscore and outrun opponents so far this season. It will be interesting to see how Oscar Tshiebwe and Derek Culver are guarded against Baylor and if the "Twin Towers" can dominate the post. This game will tip-off on Saturday afternoon at 4pm EST and is only available on ESPN+.
Despite being the underdog in both of these games, getting two wins against these top five teams isn't something out of reach for West Virginia. Both games will be against the best teams that West Virginia has played all season and will be ready for them. That being said, if the Mountaineer bigs can score inside and can out-rebound their opponents, and the guards can also minimize turnovers and make shots, West Virginia should finish this week undefeated.
If you cannot watch the games because you don't have ESPN+, there is no reason to worry. Before every game, Mountaineer Maven has posted a "Game Thread" where our Mountaineer Maven team and West Virginia fans can comment and interact with each other. *Note: don't follow/comment on the thread through Facebook/Twitter comments, but through the actual article itself* Let's help each other out by commenting as much as possible for those who can't watch and keep them posted play by play and score by score.
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