Florida travels to No. 11 West Virginia in a meeting of two teams who have overcome adversity this season

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — One team playing on the WVU Coliseum floor Saturday has been forced to adjust through everything from losing its top player to rescheduling multiple games to dealing with its own players testing positive for COVID-19.

The other will be 11th-ranked West Virginia.

If the Big 12 and the SEC were looking to put together two teams in the conferences’ annual challenge games dealing with much of the same adversity, they accomplished just that with the Mountaineers and Florida.

Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. for the two teams who seemingly are playing well through difficult circumstances.

Florida (9-4) has won three straight heading into the game and has gone 6-3 since leading scorer Keyontae Johnson collapsed to the floor during a game against Florida State.

After spending 10 days in hospitals — part of it in a medically induced coma — Johnson has returned to the team in a supporting role on the bench.

The Gators postponed four nonconference games after Johnson’s collapse.

Much like how WVU was forced to take two weeks off after some positive cornoavirus tests and contact tracing was found within its program, Florida had to sit out at the beginning of the season for two weeks for the same reasons.

If the Mountaineers (11-4) have shown the ability to adapt and build some depth after losing Oscar Tshiebwe, who transferred to Kentucky in early January, WVU head coach Bob Huggins said the Gators are to be credited for the same reasons.

“I think they’re very fortunate to have the depth they have,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said. “They’re bringing guys off the bench that were top 30, top 50 players coming out of high school. I think in the long run, it may help them, because they’re getting people minutes who wouldn’t ordinarily get minutes. I think you could look at it that way.”

Part of Florida’s three-game win streak includes a 75-49 victory against then- No. 6 Tennessee, in which the Gators scored 14 points on fast breaks and 42 points in the paint.

How do you slow down a good transition game in basketball?

“Scoring definitely helps,” WVU guard Jordan McCabe said. “You put the ball in the hole and they generally don’t get out on those quick breaks. That’s the name of the game in our conference and in the SEC is to score and score fast. We know what they want to do, so we have to be able to execute offensively and defensively.”

The game also marks the first time this season the Mountaineers will play a home game in front of fans.

Only immediate family members and essential personnel were permitted inside the Coliseum for their previous six home games due to COVID-19 guidelines.

WVU is planning on allowing 1,000 fans in attendance for today’s game.

“I think everybody is excited about it,” Huggins said. “It’s the times. We’d have been really disappointed if none of this had happened and only 1,000 fans were there. Now that we’ve had hardly any, to have 1,000 there is a step in the right direction.”

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