What Josh Eilert Said After Falling Short to West Virginia

The former WVU interim recaps the loss to his old school.

Mar 4, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes guard head coach Josh Eilert looks on against the West Virginia Mountaineers during the first half at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Utah interim head coach Josh Eilert had a chance to play spoiler on Tuesday night against the school he's been a part of for the last 17 years, West Virginia. It was a hard fought game that went down to the wire, but the Mountaineers prevailed with a 71-69 victory.

Here's what Eilert had to say to the media after the loss.

If there was a turning point in the game

“I think it was a culmination of several moments, really. You look back at the Morgantown game and I remember exactly when that momentum shifted. (Tonight) it was just kind of a grinding effect. Their pressure, I think, really started to bother us to where we weren’t playing as much north-south, we were east-west and kind of on our heels. They got us turned around with their ball pressure. Credit to them. It seemed like when they needed to get a bucket, somebody stepped up and made a play for them. You look at their box score - 10, 12, 6, 18, 6, 4, 12, 3 - everybody was out there producing for them. The gameplan was to take Javon Small out of it, but we had a hard time doing that regardless.”

How tough Javon Small is to handle

“He’s got my vote (for Big 12 Player of the Year). He’s the ultimate winner. I saw him last year at Oklahoma State and he hit a big three against us late and it was a very similar game that I managed in Stillwater against him. He hit that critical three late against us again. He’s a winner. He plays the game the right way. He doesn’t force things when he doesn’t have to. A lot of people are throwing a lot of different guys at him and being really physical with him and he keeps on producing.”

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