West Virginia vs. Stanford Preview & Game Thread

The West Virginia Mountaineers (18-14) open the College Basketball Crown Tournament against the Stanford Cardinal (20-12). Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. EST and the action will be televised on FS1.

West Virginia dropped five of its last seven games, including a potentially NCAA tournament bid stealing contest against BYU in the second round Big 12 Conference tournament, although finished 9-9 in league play.

The Mountaineers' up and down season was attributed to their lack of consistency on offense, ranking last in the conference in scoring after averaging 69.2 points per game this season. Their defense carried them throughoout the year, allowing a 64.8 ppg, which ranks ninth in the country.

Senior guard Honor Huff averaged a team-high 15.8 points per game. Senior forward Brenen Lorient was second on the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 11.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Senior forward Chance Moore led the team in reboound at 5.3 per game and averaged 10.3 ppg, while senior point guard Jasper Floud was fourth in the league with 61 toal steals and average 7.2 points and 3.2 assists per game.

After a five-game ACC losing streak, the Cardinal won six of its last nine to put themselves into NCAA tournament conversation. However, Stanford fell to West Virginia's most heated rival, Pitt, in the opening round of the ACC tournament, ending the postseason discussion.

Ebuka Okorie has played his way into a possible 2026 NBA Draft first round selection according to the latest mock drafts. The freshman guard averaged a team-leading 22.8 points and 3.5 assists per game.

Benny Gealer stepped up in the back half of the conference schedule in the absence of the team's second leading scorer Chisom Okpara. The senior guard hit double figures in five consecutive contests, capped by a career-high 30 points behind a personal-best eight made threes against SMU. He averaged 11.1 ppg during the season.

GAME THREAD