MORGANTOWN — Kedrian Johnson has been in this position before, and to that point, so has the WVU men’s basketball team.
“Except for my first year here, it seems like our backs have always been against the wall,” Johnson said. “I think that’s when we thrive the most, when people count us out. I think that motivates us to come back and win games.”
The Mountaineers were thought to be counted out no less than a month ago, when the talk was how WVU couldn’t win on the road or beat a ranked team.
That, as forward Emmitt Matthews Jr. put it, was a month ago.
“The NCAA tournament starts in March,” Matthews reminded everyone.
WVU’s emergence has seen it win five of its last seven games, including three against AP Top 25 teams, including Wednesday’s 76-71 victory against No. 11 Iowa State.
“Going through those first couple of conference games and losing by one or two points, that’s prepared us for this moment,” Johnson said.
The Mountaineers (15-9, 4-7 Big 12) rose to No. 19 in the nation in Thursday’s NCAA NET rankings, which are used to determine at-large teams and seeding for the NCAA tournament.
Their strength of schedule is fourth in the nation and about to get much-more difficult.
Up next are two road games against No. 5 Texas and No. 14 Baylor, two teams who already won in Morgantown earlier this season.
“We’re going to try our best to win all the games remaining in the regular season,” Matthews said. “Kansas City (the Big 12 tournament), we know what that atmosphere is like and would obviously love to go do something special there. We’re not going to look past any opponent. We’ve got a road trip coming up with two tough opponents; we’re going to go and try and handle business.”
It’s a different confidence level the Mountaineers will bring into these remaining games.
Obstacles have been overcome, much like they were against Iowa State, when top scorer Erik Stevenson had to be helped off the floor late in the first half and then fouled out in the second half.
WVU has now experienced a Big 12 road win. It’s beaten three top 25-ranked teams.
“Nothing is ruled out,” Matthews said. “You see 12 seeds get to the Final Four, like, every other year. I don’t think we’ll be that low of a seed. I think we’ll keep the wheels turning and get up to a No. 5 or No. 6 seed and go from there.”
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