CINCINNATI — Playing his fourth game for a third team at Cincinnati’s Fifth Bank Arena, West Virginia guard Javon Small was an integral part of the Mountaineers’ much-needed 63-50 victory against the Bearcats on Sunday.
Coming off season lows of eight points and seven field-goal attempts in last Wednesday’s loss to Houston, Small was refocused and recharged in leading WVU to its third Big 12 road triumph in five league games away from home.
He scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in a first half that made all the difference in the outcome as the Mountaineers outscored the Bearcats 40-25 over the first 20 minutes. Small also registered five of his game-best nine assists over that time — equaling the Bearcats’ output at the intermission.
“This is probably my favorite gym to play in out of all the schools I’ve played at,” Small said.
Small’s first extensive action in college basketball came at Fifth Third Arena while playing for East Carolina when he logged 23 minutes and scored seven points back in January 2022.
The next year, Small returned to the venue and finished with 23 points, five assists and four rebounds, though the Pirates again fell short.
In February 2024, with Small having moved on to Oklahoma State by then, he was a key part of the Cowboys’ victory at Fifth Third Arena and scored 19 points.
Now the Big 12’s leading scorer and enjoying one of the top individual seasons for a WVU player over the last decade, Small again made a major impact in his fourth career game at the Bearcats’ home, while reaching his season average .
“It’s closer to home, so all of my family members are able to come,” said Small, a native of South Bend, Ind. “I just like the gym.”
On Sunday, Small made 4-of-7 three-pointers and 6-of-14 shots, while adding two steals over 36 minutes. He assisted WVU’s first field goal (a Toby Okani layup) and accounted for the next two with treys, the latter of which put the Mountaineers in front to stay 5:03 into the contest.
“I was worried about him getting a rhythm early. We blew a coverage his first three-pointer,” UC head coach Wes Miller said. “We took a bad path on one on the left side in the first half. You know he’s going to score a little bit, because he’s a terrific player. They do a lot of neat things to put him in action and get him off his left hand, get the ball out of his hands and back in his hands. We didn’t do a good enough job.”
WVU shot 25 for 51 to record its best shooting percentage (49) in a Big 12 game and its third-best this season. That can largely be attributed to the Mountaineers making 9-of-18 three-pointers and scoring 30 points in the paint, which Small saw as a byproduct of the team’s strong defensive showing that forced 14 turnovers and limited UC to 17-of-54 shooting, including 7 for 27 in the opening half.
“We play our best whenever our defense is better than our offense, if that makes sense,” Small said. “Whenever we play really good defense it just translates to buckets. We miss a few shots, but if you sprint down the court and get a hand on the ball, it’s more of an effort and competing thing. That’s something everybody should do, especially on our team.”
Small wasn’t the only Mountaineer guard to make a major impact on the outcome at UC.
Reserve Joseph Yesufu made the most of his 15-plus minutes, shooting 6 for 6 with four threes in a 16-point performance.

One of Yesufu’s two triples in the opening half came in the final seconds and allowed West Virginia to up its lead to 15 at the break.
“It got us going and I was happy to provide a spark off the bench,” Yesufu said.
At halftime, Small and Yesufu had combined for 20 points and six threes on 10 field-goal attempts. The Bearcats had only five more points on 17 more shots.
Now in his sixth season at his fourth different program, it was Yesufu’s second standout showing on a Sunday Big 12 road game this season. He scored a season-high 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting in the Mountaineers’ 78-70 win at Colorado on January 12.
“I’ve been in college for six years, so I’m kind of old. Having the experience of playing at different places and for different coaching, I’m kind of used to everything,” Yesufu said. “My teammates give me all the confidence I need to go out and play the way I can play.”
By registering his third double-figure scoring game this season, Yesufu upped his average to 5.1 points, including 5.6 in Big 12 play.
He has 25 points over his last two games after going scoreless in three of the previous four.
“Yesufu was a difference-maker,” Miller said. “He’s averaging four [points] or something. We certainly were concerned with him and respect him. I’ve followed him throughout his career starting back at Drake years and years ago.”