MORGANTOWN — The ride, it would seem, took all of just seven games for the WVU men’s hoops team to both fall flat and then go on a rapid rise.
It was just three weeks ago that WVU suffered through the disappointment of a 24-point loss against Pitt.
That was the low point.
“I would have loved for the game to go differently,” WVU forward Tucker DeVries said. “In some cases, it was the best thing for us. You have to go through some adversity, and I thought our group overcame it pretty well.”
The Mountaineers (5-2) are in an entirely different place now, having gone 2-1 with wins against Gonzaga and Arizona in last week’s Battle 4 Atlantis.
For three days in the Bahamas, WVU went beyond the limits of regulation with three overtime games and came out of it with heightened respect, including from ESPN’s Bracketologist Joe Lunardi, who suddenly has the Mountaineers in position for the NCAA tournament as a projected 11th seed.
If WVU responded well after hitting a wall, how will the Mountaineers look after everyone else thinks they’re soaring?
“I’m looking forward to seeing how we respond after having a good weekend,” WVU head coach Darian DeVries said. “It’s like I told the guys, we have not arrived. Our goal is to continue to improve and continue to get better. We want to maximize what this group is capable of and we still have plenty to grow into.”
It all leads into Friday’s Big East-Big 12 Battle game against Georgetown (7-1), which tips off at 7 p.m. inside the Coliseum.
The Hoyas, an old foe from WVU’s 17 years in the Big East, will march into Morgantown with a 6-foot-10 highly recruited freshman in Thomas Sorber and a defense that is holding opponents to just 63 points per game.
“It’s a big game for us,” Darian DeVries said. “Georgetown is playing really well, they have a good record. It’s going to be a great challenge for us.”
Aside from a loss against Notre Dame, Georgetown has breezed through the rest of its schedule consisting of mid-major competition.
Sorber — 15.8 ppg, 8.9 rpg. — has lived up to early expectations.
“He has a chance to be one of the special young players in the country, but I’m going to challenge him to get in tip-top shape,” Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley said earlier this season. “If he does that, I’ve told everyone from day one, this kid is definitely going to be someone to reckon with.”
The bigger question, though, remains firmly in WVU’s camp. The Mountaineers took time off this week to strengthen their legs following the three games in the Bahamas.
Is it possible for the Mountaineers to carry over their momentum gained from the Battle 4 Atlantis weekend?
“As a group, we’re confident that we can compete with anybody,” Tucker Devries said. “We know we’re not the most talented team in the country, so we have to overcome that gap in other ways; play together, play harder and be more disciplined.
“I don’t think we surprise ourselves by being able to compete with those teams, it’s just going to have to look a little different.”
