West Virginia Meets No. 3 Gonzaga in the Battle 4 Atlantis

The Mountaineers meet their biggest challenge to date against the third-ranked Bulldogs.

West Virginia University guard KJ Tenner. / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

Paradise Island, Bahamas - West Virginia and No. 3 Gonzaga will meet in the first round of the Battle of Atlantis midseason tournament Wednesday afternoon.

The Mountaineers (3-1) were slightly tested in their only road game in the Backyard Brawl at Pitt three games into the season and failed miserably. Undoubtedly, this is a bigger matchup.

“Very opportunistic on the offensive end,” said Gonzaga head coach Mark Few. “They got a great offensive player in (forward Tucker) DeVries and they got some really nice shooters, and all the above.”

The Bulldogs (5-0) are off to a blistering start and have dominated their opponents with an average margin of victory of 32.2 points per game, establishing their top five ranking with a 101-63 win over then eighth-ranked Baylor to open the season and a solid win at San Diego State.

“A great opponent. [They’re] off to a terrific start,” said West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries. “They’re elite at a lot of different things. So, a very good team, a very balanced team. A tremendous challenge to try and slow them down as people have seen as they’ve gotten off to a great start with this early season. I think they’re certainly deserving of early their early season accolades and rankings.”

The Bulldogs return four starters after the programs ninth consecutive Sweet 16 appearance a season ago. Leading the group is forward Graham Ike. The redshirt senior is averaging a team-high 14.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in doing so in limited action, averaging 17.2 minutes per game.

Khalif Battle transferred from Arkansas and is starting to pick up from where he left off a season ago when 29.6 points and 6.3 rebounds through the final seven games of the season for the Razorbacks. The senior is second on the team is scoring at 14.4 ppg and has been hot in his last three games, shooting 64.7% from behind the arc and averaging 17.3 ppg in that span.

Gonzaga is averaging 93.2 ppg behind shooting 50.3% and, including Battle, senior guards Ryan Nembhard and Nolan Hickman are averaging over 43% from three-point range. The Bulldogs have been efficient offensively, limiting themselves to eight turnovers per game, which ranks third in the country, and they have outrebounded their opponent by 11 rebounds per game.

“I think they have great balance overall,” said DeVries. “I think their whole team, they play well together. They play withing their system and they get great shots because of it.”

“They are incredibly fast, and we certainly haven’t played anybody with this type of speed,” added DeVries. They’re very good in transition – they’re elite at it. They play to it every single game. That’s a huge challenge.”

West Virginia has 14 first year transfers led by Oklahoma State transfer guard Javon Small. The senior is averaging a team-best 15.5 points per game and is coming off a season-high 23 points against Iona. He is leading the team in assists (4.0) and steals (3.0).

Forward Tucker DeVries leads the team in minutes (32.3) and is second on the team in scoring at 13.5 ppg, while freshman guard Jonathan Powell is averaging 12.0 ppg coming off the bench.

West Virginia and Gonzaga tipoff at approximately 2:30 p.m. EST and the action will broadcast on ESPN.