West Virginia

RaeQuan Battle, Pat Suemnick lead West Virginia over No. 3 Kansas 91-85 – WTOP News

Published

2 years ago

January 20, 2024

RaeQuan Battle, Pat Suemnick lead West Virginia over No. 3 Kansas 91-85 – WTOP News

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia can finally enjoy some positives after going through the ringer the past eight months.…

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia can finally enjoy some positives after going through the ringer the past eight months.

The Mountaineers have endured Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins’ exit following a drunken driving arrest that led to a roster makeover.

Add to that a preseason health scare for forward Akok Akok, a nine-game suspension for guard Kerr Kriisa, Jesse Edwards missing the past month with a broken wrist, and an ongoing court fight with the NCAA that had temporarily sidelined multiple-transfer players RaeQuan Battle and Noah Farrakhan.

Tipping the scale in the other direction was Saturday’s euphoria. Battle scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Pat Suemnick added a career-high 20 points and West Virginia beat No. 3 Kansas 91-85.

“It’s a surreal moment, man,” Battle said. “It’s hard to win games like that, especially doing it at this level and being a few steps behind because we had a crazy offseason. I’m just proud of this team and the coaching staff.”

Fans stormed the court after the Mountaineers (7-11, 2-3 Big 12) improved to 7-5 against Kansas in Morgantown and broke a six-game losing streak in the series.

“That one felt good,” said West Virginia interim coach Josh Eilert, who took over a week after Huggins’ arrest.

“That’s what our guys needed,” Eilert said. “I’m going to savor it tonight, I promise you that. We’ve been through a lot. This fan base has been through a lot. But tomorrow it’s right back to it to figure out a game plan for Central Florida.”

The win came a week after the Mountaineers beat then-No. 25 Texas, also at home.

West Virginia set the pace Saturday with an early 3-point barrage and outhustled the Jayhawks to get key free throws in the end.

Kansas (15-3, 3-2) trailed for most of the second half until KJ Adams hit two free throws for an 81-80 lead with 2:41 remaining. Suemnick answered with a bank shot over Hunter Dickinson 35 seconds later to give the Mountaineers the lead for good.

West Virginia sealed the win by making nine of 10 free throws in the final 34 seconds.

“I just think we wanted it more,” Suemnick said.

Kriisa added 15 points for the Mountaineers.

Kevin McCullar led Kansas with 24 points and Dickinson scored 19. Freshman Johnny Furphy hit three 3-pointers and grabbed three rebounds in the first four minutes but went 22 minutes before scoring again and finished with 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

The Mountaineers, the Big 12’s worst 3-point shooting team, made 12 of 21 (57%) from beyond the arc, including nine of their first 11.

Shooting wasn’t a problem for Kansas, either. The Jayhawks went 32 of 60 (53%) from the floor.

“There’s going to be games like this for everybody” in the Big 12, Kansas coach Bill Self said. “It’s a monster league.”

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Kansas could drop several spots in the AP Top 25 poll.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas: It’s the most points allowed this season by the Jayhawks, who ran into a determined team that has beaten two straight ranked opponents at home.

West Virginia: With Edwards still out, Eilert stressed the importance of rebounding. The Mountaineers outrebounded Kansas 31-22, the Jayhawks’ lowest total this season.

“I felt like we were quicker to the ball,” Eilert said.

UP NEXT

Kansas: Hosts Cincinnati on Monday night.

West Virginia: Plays at UCF on Tuesday night.

___ Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here ___ AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

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© 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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West Virginia

E-News | Downtown Dash planned Dec. 13

Published

5 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Join the Main Street Morgantown family-friendly holiday shopping event from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 13) in Downtown Morgantown.

The event will feature a district-wide scavenger hunt for a chance to win prizes and the opportunity to explore holiday pop-up markets by Hoot and Howl, The Co-Op and Apothecary Ale House.

While exploring downtown shops, participants who spot DASH the Dog can collect stamps. Each stamp brings participants closer to the chance of winning prizes from downtown merchants such as gift cards and goods. To qualify for prizes, completed Downtown Dash Guides with five or more stamps must be turned into Hoot and Howl, The Co-Op, Apothecary Ale House or at Breezeline’s play-to-win tent on Courthouse Square.

As a break from shopping, parents and their little ones can visit Kids Craft, Cookies & Cocoa Central at the WARD Building to enjoy a complimentary hot cocoa and cookie bar and children’s crafts provided by Hotel Morgan sponsored by Main Street Morgantown and Breezeline.

Visitors can also visit the beautiful 25-foot-tall holiday tree on display at Courthouse Square, a collaboration between the City of Morgantown, Monongalia County and Main Street Morgantown.

Sponsored by Breezeline, the Downtown Dash celebrates the holiday season, promotes walking and shopping throughout the downtown district, and supports local businesses by driving foot traffic directly to storefronts.

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West Virginia

West Virginia First Foundation lauds Wheeling police for crisis intervention success

Published

17 hours ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

West Virginia First Foundation lauds Wheeling police for crisis intervention success

WHEELING, W.Va. — The West Virginia First Foundation visited the Wheeling Police Department to commend its efforts in addressing the area’s mental health and opioid crisis.

Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger presented to the WVFF board, highlighting the department’s progress.

Schwertfeger attributed a 14% decrease in Group A crimes from 2024 to 2025 to the department’s crisis intervention program.

“Just another great partnership,” he said. “More collaboration in this area that we are very proud of and we want to keep the momentum going,.”

WVFF Executive Director Jonathan Board praised the program’s success.

“This in particular, the CIT program, that isn’t just in the ether, but is showing success – actual scientific success about de-escalation, about bringing together services providers and to boots on the ground and first responders, this is vitally important to not only this region but the entire state,” Board said.

The visit was part of WVFF’s ‘Hold the Line’ tour across the state.

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West Virginia

Where West Virginia’s Decommits in the 2026 Recruiting Class Signed & What Happened

Published

1 day ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Where West Virginia’s Decommits in the 2026 Recruiting Class Signed & What Happened

Now that you know about West Virginia’s 2026 recruiting class, I figured it’d be a good time to give a little insight into those who were once committed to the Mountaineers and landed elsewhere.

What happened, and where did they go?

QB Brodie McWhorter (Mississippi State)

McWhorter committed to Neal Brown and his coaching staff, but reopened his recruitment when the coaching change was made. Rich Rodriguez did recruit him at the beginning, holding several conversations with him before backing off and pursuing Jyron Hughley and Legend Bey. Hughley committed, Bey committed to Ohio State (signed with Tennessee), while WVU added two more quarterbacks in Wyatt Brown and John Johnson III.

RB Jett Walker (Texas)

Walker fit the bill for what Rodriguez wanted in the backfield. A big, physical presence who could absorb contact and hammer it in between the tackles. With multiple backs committed and feeling good about a few others, WVU didn’t feel pressed to hold onto him. Walker flipped to Minnesota and then flipped to Texas just three weeks later

WR Jeffar Jean-Noel (Georgia Tech)

Jean-Noel was the second recruit to commit to Rodriguez in the 2026 class, but reopened his recruitment in mid-April. He then considered Purdue, Pitt, Kentucky, UCF, and Florida State before landing at Georgia Tech.

OL Justyn Lyles (Marshall)

The Mountaineers had a number of offensive line commits, and with the late additions of Kevin Brown and Aidan Woods, and their chances of securing Jonas Muya, Lyles took a visit to Marshall and flipped his commitment.

LB Caleb Gordon (North Carolina)

Gordon’s commitment to WVU was very brief. As a matter of fact, it was the shortest of the bunch, announcing his pledge on November 24th and then flipping to NC State on the first day of the early signing period (December 3rd).

LB Daiveon Taylor (Kent State)

Taylor was the first commit in the class; however, it was so early that he was committed to Neal Brown’s staff, announcing his decision in April of 2024. He backed off that pledge the very day Brown was fired (December 1st) and eventually signed with Kent State.

CB Emari Peterson (unsigned)

Peterson decommitted from WVU just days before signing day, likely due to the Mountaineers zeroing in on a pair of JUCO corners in Rayshawn Reynolds and Da’Mun Allen. He will sign in February and currently has offers from Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Charlotte, Cincinnati, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, FIU, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Kentucky, Liberty, LSU, South Florida, Southern Miss, Texas A&M, Toledo, Wake Forest, and a few others.

S Aaron Edwards (committed to Tulsa)

West Virginia chose to part ways with Edwards and ultimately replaced his spot with fellow JUCO safety Da’Mare Williams.

S Jaylon Jones (undecided)

Jones decommitted in late October and did not sign during the early signing period. He will likely choose between Central Michigan, Hawai’i, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, and Texas State.

S Taj Powell (Louisville)

Taj is the brother of former Mountaineer basketball guard Jonathan Powell, who is now at North Carolina. He decommitted the day after West Virginia lost to Ohio and flipped to Louisville that same day.