Who’s Playing
West Virginia Mountaineers @ Gonzaga Bulldogs
Current Records: West Virginia 3-1, Gonzaga 5-0
How To Watch
What to Know
The West Virginia Mountaineers will face off against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at 2:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday at Imperial Arena at Atlantis Resort. The Mountaineers are no doubt hoping to put an end to a ten-game streak of away losses dating back to last season.
Last Wednesday, everything came up roses for West Virginia against Iona as the team secured an 86-43 victory. With that win, the Mountaineers brought their scoring average up to 77.5 points per game.
West Virginia can attribute much of their success to Javon Small, who had 23 points in addition to five assists and five rebounds. Small had some trouble finding his footing against Pittsburgh last Friday, so this was a nice turnaround. The team also got some help courtesy of Tucker DeVries, who earned 13 points along with three steals and three blocks.
Meanwhile, Gonzaga came tearing into Wednesday’s matchup with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 29.5 points) and they left with even more momentum. They simply couldn’t be stopped as they easily beat the Beach 84-41. The Bulldogs have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won three matches by 38 points or more this season.
Gonzaga got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Graham Ike out in front who posted 15 points plus five rebounds. What’s more, Ike also posted a 50% three-point shooting accuracy, which is the highest he’s posted since back in January. Another player making a difference was Ryan Nembhard, who posted ten points along with seven assists.
Gonzaga smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they’ve now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in five consecutive contests.
West Virginia’s win bumped their record up to 3-1. As for Gonzaga, their victory bumped their record up to 5-0.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. West Virginia hasn’t had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 77.5 points per game. However, it’s not like Gonzaga struggles in that department as they’ve been averaging 93.2. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
West Virginia came up short against Gonzaga when the teams last played back in December of 2020, falling 87-82. Can West Virginia avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We’ll find out soon enough.
Series History
Gonzaga has won both of the games they’ve played against West Virginia in the last 7 years.
- Dec 02, 2020 – Gonzaga 87 vs. West Virginia 82
- Mar 23, 2017 – Gonzaga 61 vs. West Virginia 58
