The West Virginia Mountaineers (8-2) host the Mercyhurst Lakers (6-8) for the first ever meeting between the two programs.
When: Sunday, December 22
Location: Morgantown, WV, WVU Coliseum (14,000)
Tip-off: 2:00 p.m. EST
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Stream: ESPN+
Announcers: Nick Farrell, Warren Baker & Amanda Mazey
Radio: Tony Caridi (PBP), Brad Howe (analyst) Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College (Radio affiliates)
WVU Game Notes
– Mercyhurst is the 193rd different team to play a game vs. West Virginia in the WVU Coliseum (non-exhibition).
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– West Virginia is 154-38 against teams making their first appearance in the Coliseum.
– West Virginia is currently ranked No. 28 in the latest NCAA NET rankings.
– West Virginia has won 88 of its last 96 games at home in the month of December.
– Javon Small was named co-Big 12 Player of the Week and Tucker DeVries was tabbed as the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Dec. 2. Both were named to the Battle 4 Atlantis All-Tournament Team.
– Small was named the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week on Dec. 3.
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– Small has scored 20 or more points in fi ve of WVU’s last seven games.
– With a win over No. 3 Gonzaga, WVU defeated a Top 5 AP team for the second consecutive season. Last season, the Mountaineers downed No. 3 Kansas in Morgantown, 91-85.
– West Virginia played three consecutive overtime games for the first time in school history.
– WVU is 142-13 at home against nonconference teams in the last 23 years, and has won 123 of its last 134 games.
– WVU is 615-187 (.767) all-time at the WVU Coliseum and 256-73 at the WVU Coliseum in the last 21 seasons.
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– West Virginia is 206-56 against nonconference teams in regular season games in the last 21 seasons.
– The Mountaineers have posted a winning nonconference record in 32 of the last 33 seasons.
– WVU is 268-99 in its last 367 games against unranked teams, including winners of 151 of its last 183 at the WVU Coliseum.
– West Virginia is the only team in the country that has two players on the same team who averaged more than 20 points per game from last season — Tucker DeVries (21.6 ppg) and Jayden Stone (20.8 ppg).
– Darian DeVries, who led Drake to six consecutive 20-win seasons and has a career .735 winning percentage as a head coach, was named the 23rd head men’s basketball coach at West Virginia University on March 24, 2024.
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– DeVries has a record of 158-57 (.735) in seven seasons as a head coach, including a 63-17 (.788) mark in the last two-plus seasons.
– West Virginia returns just 2.8 percent of its scoring from last season’s team (Ofri Naveh).
– The Mountaineers are led by a pair of transfers in Tucker DeVries (Drake) and Javon Small (Oklahoma State). Last season, DeVries was named an Associated Press All-American Honorable Mention selection, while Small earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors.
– In addition, Eduardo Andre (Fresno State), Joseph Yesufu (Washington State), Sencire Harris (Illinois), Amani Hansberry (Illinois) and Jayden Stone (Detroit Mercy) were added from the transfer portal.
– WVU has a wealth of experience on its roster who have college basketball experience. Entering this season, they have combined to play 806 games, made 442 starts, scored 7,606 points, grabbed 3,304 rebounds and dished out 1,248 assists.
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– Tucker DeVries was named to the 20-member Julius Erving Preseason Watch List, giving annually to the nation’s top small forward.
– Tucker DeVries was named to the preseason Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year Watch List.
– Tucker DeVries has scored the most points (1,867) of any senior (four-year players only) entering this season. He ranks eighth overall for career scoring by returning players (including fi fth-year) and third in the Big 12 Conference.
– Entering this season, Tucker DeVries has scored the fifth-most points in college basketball since 2021-22. He’s one of 12 players who have scored 1,800 or more points since 2021-22.
– Tucker DeVries has recorded 99 games in double figures.
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– Tucker DeVries is 14 points shy of reaching 2,000 for his career.
– Toby Okani scored his 1,000th career point against Georgetown on Dec. 6.
– Javon Small is 17 points shy of scoring 1,000 for his career.
– Darian DeVries is 73-2 when scoring 80 or more points in a game and 139-17 when scoring 70 or more.
– Darian DeVries is 113-21 when holding opponents to 69 points or less and 53-6 when holding opponents to 59 points or less.
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– West Virginia was predicted 13th in the Preseason Big 12 Poll by the league’s head coaches.
– West Virginia has made at least one 3-point fi eld goal in 874 consecutive games.
– The Mountaineers have won 150 of their last 168 games when holding opponents to 69 points or less.
– WVU has won 161 of its last 182 and 217 of its last 245 games when holding opponents to less than 69 points.
– West Virginia is 20-5 all-time in games played on December 22.
The Department of Biology invites the community to join its spring ephemeral wildflower walk Sunday (April 12) at the Core Arboretum.
The free guided walks will begin at noon, 12:30 p.m., 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
The walks will take place each Sunday in April.
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Find more information and register to attend.
Last year, more than 45 species of plants were seen in bloom over the course of the wildflower walks.
Individuals are also welcome to visit and see the flowers on their own. Information on how to find and identify the flowers are available at the kiosk.
Those who wish to schedule a group tour outside of the regular schedule or would like to become a volunteer guide, should contact Zach Fowler, WVU Core Arboretum director, at zfowler@mail.wvu.edu.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — West Virginia University has welcomed back its beloved Research Week for its eighth year.
Research Week at WVU was created to highlight the research efforts of students, faculty and staff across the school’s three campuses and to thank them for helping create the R1 institution’s household name.
Core facilities showcase (WBOY image).
Monday kicked off the week with award-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author and historian John M. Barry as a keynote speaker in a conversation “on the power of storytelling to shape public understanding, inform policy, and influence how science is understood in public life,” according to WVU.
One of the events that took place on Tuesday was the Core Facilities showcase held in the Health Science Center, which featured 30 different displays of research.
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12 News spoke with WVU Core Resources Director Karen Martin on why it was important to feature the university’s research projects in this way.
“This is going to be professional development for them so that they can learn the skills that they can then take, not only to do their research now, but that they can take with them for jobs in the future. And we’ve got the cutting-edge, greatest technologies out there, so they’re really competitive, they’ve got good skills when they leave here. And we study everything from diabetes, cancer, neuroscience, just a whole range of everything that we study, and so students really get a lot of opportunities to learn, to understand how the technology works, and they’ve got that to take with them,” Martin said.
Research products that the Core facilities showcase. (WBOY images)
Research Week will continue all across WVU until Friday. You can find a full list of events and virtual seminars on the university’s website here.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Children’s Home Society of West Virginia (CHSWV) is a private, non-profit organization designed to help children find lifetime families, protect and nurture children, and help to strengthen and preserve families. Every year, they offer child welfare, behavioral health, social casework, and advocacy services to 24,000+ children and families statewide.
CHSWV is currently asking for donations and any help possible, as they begin their capital campaign to help raise funds to build a new, larger facility in Morgantown.
“A large portion of our funds goes toward maintaining our current rental space,” Abby Miller, Site Manager at the CHSWV Morgantown Location, said. “The resources that could otherwise be used to expand our services and reach more families are going toward our rent. We’re wanting to raise enough money to have a place of our own to be able to expand our foster care services.”
CHSWV’s goal is to raise $2 million. They have already raised $270,000.
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As well as foster care, CHSWV also provides those in need with a resource room, which supplies clothes, toys, shoes, accessories, and more. Anyone within the community is allowed to come in and pick items out, free of charge.
If you are unable to donate funds toward their campaign, donating to their resource room is another way in which you could aid CHSWV.
“We are always in need of donations, specifically men’s clothing, children’s clothing, children’s furniture, and any household items, as well,” Miler stated.
Last but not least, those interested in becoming a foster parent may call into CHSWV’s office or fill out an inquiry directly through their website. Although the foster care process is long, it has been known to be quite rewarding.
“Foster parents that we have had through us say it’s a rewarding process,” Miller said. “They have opened their home and their heart to be able to help children in need, and that’s the whole point of being a foster parent, whether it’s for a short time, a long time, or forever.
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Those interested in aiding in any way, whether that’s through donating funds, supplies, or becoming a foster parent, can consult in-person at their office in Westover, over the phone at 304-284-0992, or through their website at www.childhswv.org.
