MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia will meet Richmond on Nov. 26 in the semifinals of the Las Vegas Invitational with a next-night matchup against Cal or San Diego State.
The pairings were announced Thursday.
West Virginia’s semifinal game is scheduled to tip at 5 p.m. Eastern (2 p.m. Pacific). The final night on Friday, Nov. 27 features a third-place game at 8:30 p.m. Eastern and the championship at 10:30. That’s the night before West Virginia plays its football home finale against Iowa State.
What we know about Richmond? The Spiders, who lost top scorer Kendall Anthony but return everyone else of note, narrowly missed out on the NCAAs last season before reaching the NIT quarterfinals at 21-14. Coached by former Princeton standout Chris Mooney, Richmond figures to be a top contender in the Atlantic 10 this season. Look out for 6-8 forward Terry Allen (13.0 points, 6.7 rebounds), 5-11 point guard ShawnDre’ Jones (10.3 points, A-10 sixth man of the year) and 6-9 stretch four T.J. Cline (11.8 points, made 50 3-pointers).
What do we know about the rest of the field? San Diego State, coming off a fifth consecutive NCAA appearance, has owned the Mountain West under Steve Fischer. The Aztecs return three starters and eight regulars from a squad that finished 27-9 last season and lost to Duke in the round of 32. … Cal was only 18-15 in Cuonzo Martin’s first season, but Whoa Nelly! did he ever land some players. His 2015 class was ranked No. 4 by Rivals, based on two of the nation’s top 10 players (Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb, both of whom turned down Kentucky and Kansas) and another top-80 prospect (Tyson Jolly).