West Virginia
West Virginia starts slow, can't catch up in 73-60 loss at Kansas State – WV MetroNews
West Virginia entered Saturday’s matchup with Kansas State at Bramlage Coliseum looking to avoid consecutive losses — something the Mountaineers had successfully done following each of their first four setbacks this season.
Instead, WVU was blitzed from the jump by the Wildcats as Kansas State ran off 17 straight points early into the matchup and hardly looked back in claiming a 73-60 victory for its first win of 2025.
“You go on the road, you can’t come out of the gates the way we did,” first-year WVU head coach Darian DeVries said. “You have to have a full 40 and we didn’t have that tonight.”
West Virginia (13-6, 4-4) missed 10 of its first 11 shots, while K-State (8-11, 2-6) made 7-of-11 shots to start, allowing the home team to create separation it kept intact for the remainder of the matchup.
After Eduardo Andre scored from close range for West Virginia’s first points, the Mountaineers were scoreless for more than 6 minutes and without a field goal for almost 8.
WVU missed nine straight shots and turned it over once during the early stretch when the Wildcats took control. KSU guard Dug McDaniel aided his squad by scoring seven points during the prolonged run, including a three-pointer that made it 19-2 at the 12:18 mark of the opening half.
While West Virginia settled in some offensively, the Mountaineers never got the deficit inside 13 over the remainder of the half, with that coming at 21-8 on a Javon Small layup.
Leading 31-16 as the 5-minute mark of the opening half approached, the Wildcats then ran off 11 unanswered points to hold their largest lead of the night.
That stretch began with two free throws from McDaniel, and the guard added a layup 27 seconds after teammate C.J. Jones had scored on a fast break. Ugonna Onyenso accounted for the next five points, including a conventional three-point play 1:15 before halftime.
Andre’s dunk late in the half made it a 24-point margin at the break.
“The first 5 minutes, it just kind of snowballed from there. The second half was more like us,” DeVries said. “We competed and didn’t quit, but you can’t put yourself in that type of hole, on the road especially. That was a tough one to try to claw back out of.”
The Wildcats shot 16 for 30, including 5 of 9 on threes over the first 20 minutes. They had six players with multiple field goals at halftime, while the Mountaineers went to the intermission shooting 7 for 29, including 4 for 21 outside of Small.
West Virginia made several runs in the second half, including an early one that allowed the Mountaineers to trail 44-29 following Amani Hansberry’s triple.
Small’s dunk in transition left the Mountaineers facing a 54-40 deficit with 11:05 to play, but the Wildcats countered with eight of the next 10 points to ensure there wouldn’t bet be a tight finish. Five of those eight points were provided by David N’Guessan, who accounted for a conventional three-point play and threw down a dunk with 5:42 left for a 20-point margin.
The Mountaineers got as close as 12 on three separate instances, but never until less than 2 minutes remained.
KSU made 26-of-55 shots to shoot better than 47 percent, had a 15-5 edge in bench scoring and a 17-8 advantage in fast break points.
McDaniel led five Wildcats in double figures with 15 points and added six assists and a pair of steals.
“He’s a good player. He’s always stuffing the stat sheet,” DeVries said. “He did some things there again. He’s a tough guard. He has the ability to face up, drive you and rebound. I was watching on film and he does a lot of things that equate to winning. He certainly did that tonight.”
N’Guessan scored 14 and Max Jones added 12, with that duo combining to make 10-of-15 shots. Coleman Hawkins contributed 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds and C.J. Jones totaled 10 points.
Small led the Mountaineers with 22 points and five assists.
Toby Okani scored 13 in defeat before fouling out and Sencire Harris added 12 points, all of which he scored after halftime.
WVU made 25-of-68 shots and 4-of-21 threes. In two losses this week, the Mountaineers shot 43 for 126, including 8 for 50 from long range.
Kansas State snapped a six-game skid and improved to 9-4 against the Mountaineers at Bramlage Coliseum.
West Virginia
N.C. man faces prison after relocating to W.Va. without updating sex offender registration
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — A North Carolina sex offender who relocated to West Virginia is facing prison time after violating federal registration mandates, prosecutors said.
James Terry Lawson Jr., 43, pleaded guilty Tuesday to failing to register and update registration as a sex offender, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.
The release said Lawson was convicted of indecent liberties with children in North Carolina back in 2003. The man lived in Vienna, W.Va., in late 2024 and early 2025 without registering as a sex offender.
Prosecutors noted Lawson has previous convictions for failing to maintain records in 2009 and 2017.
Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 5 when Lawson faces up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release time and a fine of up to $250,000.
West Virginia
Commentary: As Mountaineers ready for elimination game, harping on errors does no good – WV MetroNews
OMAHA, Neb. — There’s no denying the impact a pair of West Virginia errors in the seventh inning played in the outcome of what amounted to a 5-2 loss to North Carolina on Sunday night at Charles Schwab Field.
There’s no reason to harp on them either.
Tyrus Hall and Brodie Kresser would like nothing more than to have made fairly routine plays, particularly Kresser’s miscue that prevented a potential inning-ending double play.
Instead, Gavin Gallaher followed with a two-run triple to break a 2-all tie and UNC scored three unearned runs in the inning. Neither team would score again.
“Over the course of 62 games, that stuff happens,” second-year WVU coach Steve Sabins said. “I think we have the best fielding percentage in our league. Tyrus is one of the best defenders in the nation. So we’ve had really good success. And that’s kind of part of it. You don’t want it at that time. But I feel very confident that any mistakes that are made are made because mistakes happen in baseball, not necessarily the moment or the situation. I feel like our guys have played really free and aggressive this entire time.”
The Tar Heels are now within one victory of a spot in the Men’s College World Series Finals, while the Mountaineers (46-16) suffered their fourth loss in 22 games since May, and now have to defeat Troy on Tuesday to get another crack at the No. 5 national seed.
WVU never led Sunday and scored one of its two runs on a double play that Matt Ineich hit into in the fourth inning.
The next time Ineich stepped into the batter’s box in the sixth, the Mountaineers were in their best position of the game to lead with runners at first and second, before the shortstop hit into his second 4-6-3 twin killing in as many at bats.
Consider that among its single-season program record 46 victories this season, only two for West Virginia have come scoring two or fewer runs and four have with three or fewer runs. On both occasions that the Mountaineers won with two runs, they prevented the opposition (Liberty and TCU) from scoring.
Baseball is a game predicated on handling failure, not dwelling on it. Succeeding three times every 10 trips to the plate leaves you in position to be enshrined in Cooperstown at the highest level.
Let it not be forgotten that Kresser’s single to start the bottom of the 10th inning led to him scoring the winning run in the Mountaineers’ 6-5 victory over Kentucky to win the Morgantown Regional. He’s been a mainstay in the Mountaineer lineup each of the last three seasons — two that have ended in Super Regional appearances and this year, which will at some point end in Omaha.
“It is what it is. Have to flush it,” Kresser said. “Can’t let the moment get too big.”
Hall has hit exceptionally well throughout the NCAA Tournament and broke a 5-all tie last Friday against Troy with a two-run single in the eighth. He’s also made numerous high-level defensive plays throughout the 2026 campaign, including a few in the MCWS.
Sabins has described Hall as the best defensive third baseman he’s been around and numerous teammates have offered similar praise.
“I just missed it. It happens,” Hall said.
A big part of what’s made West Virginia’s 2026 season so successful is the team’s ability to stay present.
The Mountaineers haven’t dwelled on losses or harped on wins. They didn’t get too low after a 23-1 midweek loss to rival Pitt or an 11-9 postseason loss to Kentucky, and didn’t get too high after fending off elimination twice in one day, including an 11-9 win over the Wildcats that featured five ninth-inning runs.
Staying present and not living in the past has never been more important than now as WVU seeks a second win over the Trojans to prolong its stay on college baseball’s premier stage.
“We’re one of the best defensive teams in the country and sometimes things happen,” said Mountaineer relief pitcher Reese Bassinger. “You’re playing on a really good surface. Sometimes the ball takes a really weird bounce. I don’t really know what happened there, but it happens. We move forward.
“Kresser and Tyrus are some of the best defenders we have and I know without a doubt I would throw that same pitch over and over and I guarantee Kresser fields it for a double play every other time. That guy has been the rock. He’s been a captain for us. He’s a guy that everyone loves. Nobody cares about that. We move on, keep pitching, keep hitting and just go on the next game.”
A body found in a burning vehicle in West Virginia has prompted a homicide investigation.
In a press conference on Monday, Sean Snuffer, the chief deputy of the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, said first responders were called to a rural section of Cabin Creek Road on Sunday around 9:50 a.m. for reports of a “suspicious vehicle.” A 911 caller said the vehicle’s doors were open and items were scattered around the vehicle, Snuffer said.
About 13 minutes later, a 911 caller said the vehicle was on fire, officials said. After crews arrived and extinguished the vehicle fire, a body was found. The remains were taken to the medical examiner’s office, and an autopsy on Monday determined the death was a homicide, Snuffer said. Officials are not releasing the manner of death at this time.
The victim’s identity has not been released as of Monday night, though Snuffer said the body appears to be an adult male. Snuffer said the investigation is “active and ongoing.” It was not immediately known if there were any suspects.
“We can’t answer a whole lot of questions,” he added. “I know people are going to want to know exactly what happened, but we can’t release that information.”
The fire marshal is investigating the cause of the vehicle blaze. Anyone with information on the case can contact detectives with the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office at 304-357-0556 or leave a tip on the sheriff’s website.
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