MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Eighteen unanswered points in the first half provided the winning margin for West Virginia to comfortably avenge an earlier loss to TCU, 73-55 Tuesday night in the penultimate regular season home game for the Mountaineers.
After falling to the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth, 65-60 on February 5, the Mountaineers held TCU scoreless for a stretch of just over eight minutes in the first half, providing the necessary cushion to collect their 17th victory.
West Virginia went 17-for 29 from the floor in the opening half and they shot 52 percent for the game in their best shooting performance since the season opener against Robert Morris.
“We put up some bigger rims for this one,” WVU head coach Darian DeVries joked. “I thought our defense got us started though. We were able to get in the open floor and got some open transition ones. I thought Joe [Yesufu] was a big part of that, especially in the first half. Von [Javon Small] got going there for a little while too.
“When we get to play, not taking the ball out of the net, now we can play in transition. The more often you can do that, the better you are going to be with your offense. For us to play a full forty minutes, that’s what I was most satisfied with.”
“We all shot the ball with confidence today,” said WVU senior guard Javon Small. “We’ve got to just continue to do that.”
TCU scored the first five points of the game before the Mountaineers ripped off 18 consecutive points to build a 13-point lead. WVU extended that lead to 22 points before TCU closed the first half on a 7-0 burst. The Mountaineers led 42-27 at intermission.
Leading by 20 points with 12:46 to play, center Eduardo Andre chased down a loose ball by diving on the floor. He saved possession by calling a timeout and DeVries immediately rushed onto the floor to pick Andre up to his feet.
Darian DeVries energy: pic.twitter.com/bah21XKydT
— Joe Brocato (@joebrowvm) February 26, 2025
“I love that. E is on the ground, a 7-footer, and he is diving on the floor and calling timeout,” DeVries said. “That’s what it is all about. I think I might have pulled something getting out there. But that’s a big play and a tone-setting play.”
TCU (15-13, 8-9 Big 12) made one last push late in the game. A 10-0 run pulled the Frogs within nine points [62-53] with 5:33 to play. However, West Virginia scored the next five and they comfortably saw the game out.
“When it got to that, I thought we really dug in and we were able to keep them from getting into the paint and getting those shots at the rim and made everything difficult,” DeVries said. “And our offense did just enough.”
Small led West Virginia with 23 points and 10 assists. He was 6-for-11 from three-point range.
“I believe that I can make every shot that I take. I don’t care how many shots I miss, I just worry about the next one.”
Joseph Yesufu scored 14 points for West Virginia, his top point total since the victory over Utah two weeks ago.
“From that Colorado game on, you can see he has been more consistent,” DeVries said. “He is just healthier and more confident in what he is doing.”
Sencire Harris scored a career-high 13 points while making 5 of 8 shots from the floor.
“We brought that energy. When we are hyped and we are upbeat, good things happen to us. The basketball gods always reward us,” Harris said.
“I tell these guys all the time that when we are all hooked up, there’s nobody in the nation that can handle it.”
“Buck puts in the work. He is in the gym,” DeVries said. “He is constantly trying to work on his catch-and-shoots. He is working on trying to get in the paint and finishing with the mid-range and things.”
“Today he was a threat and helped us out in a really good way,” Small said of Harris. “I feel like just because he was making shots today, he decided to play some defense.”
In eleven minutes on the floor, freshman KJ Tenner scored four points, collected three steals and grabbed a pair of rebounds.
“I thought KJ was great. He played ten, eleven minutes but he was a plus-14 when he was on the floor. That’s having an impact, a really positive impact,” DeVries said.
“It is like hitting in baseball. It seems like when one guy gets hot, everybody gets hot. Sometimes as coaches, you are like, ‘Hey, let’s save a couple of these’. But that confidence, I think, spreads throughout the team.”
West Virginia (17-11, 8-9 Big 12) hits the road for a two-game road trip to Utah. The Mountaineers will face BYU Saturday and Utah on Tuesday before wrapping the regular season at home against UCF on March 8.
“It is important for us to finish the season strong heading into the postseason,” Yesufu said. “We know these three games are vital.”
Trazarien White led TCU with 11 points.