Game Preview: UCF vs. West Virginia men’s basketball
West Virginia has their regular season finale as they host UCF on Saturday from the WVU Coliseum.
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WVSports.com offers a look at some key elements of the match-up to get you ready for tip-off.
SERIES: West Virginia leads 2-1
LAST MEETING: Feb. 20, 2024 in Morgantown — WVU 77, UCF 67
TELEVISION: ESPN+ (Pete Sousa / Sean Harrington)
TIP-OFF: 5:00 p.m. ET
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COACHES
Darian DeVries, West Virginia
18-12 (1st season at WVU), 168-67 (7th season overall)
Johnny Dawkins, UCF
164-118 (9th season at UCF), 320-232 (17th season overall)
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LAST TIME OUT
UCF enters the game off an 83-70 victory over Oklahoma State this week. The Knights had their largest margin of victory in a game since Jan. 25. Darius Johnson scored 36 points while Keyshawn Hall scored 18 points. UCF shot 41 percent from the field and knocked down 10 3-pointers.
West Virginia enters Saturday off a 71-69 win over Utah on the road this week. Javon Small scored 18 points and had seven assists as well as the Mountaineers forced 16 turnovers leading to 13 points. WVU held Utah to shoot 38 percent from the field while the Mountaineers shot 45.6 percent from the field.
By The Numbers — UCF (16-14, 7-12 Big 12)
UCF comes into the contest ranked fifth in the Big 12 in scoring offense, averaging 79.0 points per game on the season. Over their last 10 games, the Knights have reached that mark five times and they are 2-3 in those games. UCF has won their last three games and averaged 79.7 points per game. The Knights are 10th in the league in 3-point field goal percentage, and they are last in team field goal percentage, making 42.1 percent of their shots on the season.
Defensively, the Knights are giving up 80.1 points per game, which is last in the Big 12. UCF’s opponents have scored at least 90 points eight times this season. UCF is holding opponents to shoot 45.4 percent from the field, and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc.
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UCF is 13th in the Big 12 in rebounding margin, and ninth in turnover margin.
Over their last five games, their most frequent lineup on the floor has been Darius Johnson, Mikey Williams, Tyler Henricks, Keyshawn Hall, and Moustapha Thiam. This lineup has been used 11.4 percent of the time this season.
Hall leads the Big 12 in scoring with 18.9 points per game, and he’s also leading the Knights in rebounding, averaging 7.1 rebounds per game. Hall has 178 free throws this season, which is most in the Big 12.
UCF comes into the game ranked 78th in the NET and 77th in KenPom. This is a Quad 1 game for the Knights and they are 3-10 in such games.
By The Numbers — West Virginia (18-12, 9-10 Big 12)
West Virginia is currently averaging 68.3 points per game this season, which is 15th in the Big 12, but they are only allowing 64.7 points per game this season, which is second in the Big 12. The Mountaineers are shooting 42.6 percent from the floor, but their opponents are only shooting 40.8 percent from the field this season.
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From beyond the arc, West Virginia is shooting 32.7 percent, which is 11th in the league, but they have the fifth-most 3-point field goals made at 8.6 per game. During Big 12 play though, WVU ranks 11th in 3-point field goal percentage, but they drop to 6th in threes made per game. WVU’s opponents are shooting 29.5 percent from beyond the arc on the season, which is best in the Big 12.
Over their last five games, their most frequent lineup on the floor has been Javon Small, Sencire Harris, Jonathan Powell, Toby Okani, and Amani Hansberry. This lineup has been used 21.5 percent of the time over WVU’s last five games.
Small is second in the Big 12 in scoring, at 18.2 points per game. He’s 13th in field goal percentage, third in free throw percentage, and is fourth in the league in assists per game.
West Virginia is ranked 49th in the NET, and 52nd by KenPom. This is considered a Quad 3 game for WVU as the Mountaineers are 3-0 in such games this year.
Standings Implications
West Virginia has a chance to get into the top eight of the Big 12 standings with a win. They are in a three-way tie for eighth place in the league, which would earn them a bye in the Big 12 Tournament next week. WVU is tied with TCU and Kansas State. TCU faces Colorado on the road this weekend, while Kansas State faces Iowa State.
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UCF is tied with Cincinnati at 7-12 in the Big 12 standings, tied for 12th in the league standings. The Bearcats face Oklahoma State this weekend.
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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.
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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.
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,.”
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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.
Now that you know about West Virginia’s2026 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.
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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)
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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.
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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.
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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)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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