WVU’s nonleague slate features road game at Northern Kentucky

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Bob Huggins will take his West Virginia basketball team on a five-hour road trip to Northern Kentucky this season, facing a program in its second year of Division I hoops.

That matchup, slated for Dec. 7, was the only surprise when WVU released the nonconference portion of its 2014-15 schedule Thursday. A three-game tournament in Puerto Rico, a neutral-site showdown with N.C. State at Madison Square Garden, and an SEC/Big 12 Challenge game against LSU had been previously reported.

Northern Kentucky owns some history against WVU, having upset the Mountaineers 77-74 during a preseason exhibition game in November 2011. Then, as still is the case now, the Norse coaching staff featured Kevin Schappell, who previously spent three seasons as a graduate assistant at West Virginia.

Though Northern Kentucky is new to the Atlantic Sun Conference, it was a longtime Division II power and boasts a 9,400-seat arena that opened in 2008. (It even has a few luxury suites.)

The trip to San Juan could be intriguing with defending national champion UConn in the mix. The field also includes Dayton, an Elite Eight qualifier last season and the original college home of West Virginia point guard Juwan Staten, as well as New Mexico, which is coming off a 27-win season. Puerto Rico also offers potential matchups against Boston College, Texas A&M, George Mason and College of Charleston—the last of which already has a trip to Morgantown slated for the following week.

“We always strive to play one of the top schedules in the country and this year will be no different,” said Huggins.

Check out the Mountaineers’ complete nonleague schedule below, with the Big 12 portion still awaiting TV finalization: