West Virginia Basketball’s quest for a first-ever NCAA title will begin on Friday night when the third-seeded Mountaineers take on the 14th-seeded Morehead State Eagles in the nightcap of the opening day of the Round of 64.
After reaching as high as sixth in the national polls heading into March, the Mountaineers have skidded down the stretch, falling in an incredibly competitive overtime battle to Baylor and scraping past TCU before dropping back-to-back nailbiters to Oklahoma State – one to close out the regular season, and the other in the Big 12 Tournament. The Mountaineers earned double-digit efforts from four players in the last loss to Oklahoma State, including 19-point performances from Taz Sherman and Miles McBride.
West Virginia’s impressive resume – comprised of seven wins over Quad 1 foes, a combined record of 10-9 against Quad 1 and 2 teams, and an unblemished 8-0 mark against Quad 3 and 4 squads – was enough to catapult the Mountaineers onto the three-line, and has now set up an opening-round game with a dangerous mid-major opponent in Morehead State.
The reigning Ohio Valley Conference champions, the Eagles reached their first NCAA Tournament since the 2011 Kenneth Faried-led group after cruising through OVC play with a 20-7 overall record and a 17-3 conference mark, which included a 12-game winning streak spanning from January 2nd to February 11th. The Eagles ultimately won 16 of their final 17 games, with the lone loss coming on the road to Belmont, which snapped the 12-game winning streak.
Entering the conference tournament as the second-seed, Morehead State had few issues cementing its status as a dangerous mid-major, edging past Southeast Missouri State and Eastern Kentucky by single-digits before dismantling the top-seeded regular-season champions in Belmont in the championship tilt, claiming an 86-71 victory behind a career-high 27 points (12-19 2PT, 3-3 FT) – and 12 caroms – from freshman Johni Broome.
He was not alone, however – and that is partly what makes Morehead State a legitimate Cinderella candidate. Skyelar Potter registered a double-double of his own, pouring in 22 points (3-6 2PT, 4-5 3PT, 4-5 FT) to go with 13 rebounds, while DeVon Cooper (14) and KJ Hunt (10) also logged double-digits for a team that averaged a blistering 1.30 points per possession – and is now the only team to have hung over 80 points on Belmont on two occasions this season.
For a West Virginia squad that has been up-and-down in recent weeks, this could be an exceptionally worrisome game. The Mountaineers are talented enough to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2010, but they cannot afford to get trapped in a close game with an exceptionally athletic and defensive-minded Morehead State squad. To ensure that does not happen, there are a few keys the Mountaineers must follow.