No. 21 WVU won’t overlook Colorado in possible trap game

MORGANTOWN — It would seem the 21st-ranked WVU men’s basketball team is treading into dangerous territory.

To all except WVU head coach Darian DeVries, who is steadfast in his game-by-game approach.

That sets the tone for the Mountaineers, who will travel to Colorado at 3 p.m. Sunday for what may be an interesting matchup.

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See, WVU (11-3, 2-1 Big 12) has been on a sugar rush of sorts lately.

It began with a historic road upset of Kansas, followed by a blowout of Oklahoma State in the conference home opener and then facing traditional power Arizona.

And now Colorado (9-5, 0-3), a program that set new highs a year ago, but has yet to win a Big 12 game in its first year in the league.

No. 12 Houston awaits on Wednesday, and so WVU finds itself in a classic trap game, a moment to let down its guard it would seem.

Just don’t tell that to DeVries.

“From our standpoint, every team is a really good team, and they are in this league,” he said. “As a coach, our job is to try and get up for all 31 regular-season games.

“I don’t care who the opponent is, we need to play a certain way every night. Those habits have to be the same regardless of who we’re playing.”

The Buffaloes, former members of the Big 12 until 2011, had major success under longtime coach Tad Boyle last season.

Colorado earned a No. 10 seed in the 2024 NCAA tournament, upset Florida in the first round and then hung around with Marquette before losing 81-77 in the second round.

Former standouts Cody Williams and Tristen da Silva were first-round selections in the 2024 NBA Draft, and K.J. Simpson was a second-round selection.

Boyle then had to rebuild, because three starters transferred, leaving the roster with six major holes to fill.

The Buffaloes’ return to the Big 12 this season has been frustrating, highlighted by their 75-74 loss against UCF on Wednesday, in which Elijah Malone’s last-second shot under the basket was blocked.

Colorado held a 10-point lead with 12:45 remaining in the game, before UCF came back.

“I’ve never coached in a league as physical as this,” Boyle said after the loss. “I’ve coached college basketball for a long time now, but I’ve never understood why certain leagues are different than others in terms of the way they are allowed to play.

“We have to adjust to that. There’s no doubt about it.”

Turnovers have been Colorado’s biggest obstacle, and the Buffaloes are the far-and-away leader in the Big 12 averaging 15.1 per game. Colorado is also 15th in the conference in forcing turnovers.

“I don’t know how we were in this game when we turned it over 22 times,” Boyle said after the UCF game. “That’s been an Achilles’ heel of Colorado all year long is turnovers.”

Julian Hammond leads a balanced Colorado offense, averaging 13.6 points per game. His strength is the 3-point shot, where he shoots 41.3% from beyond the arc.

Hammond was injured last February and missed the NCAA tournament.

“You give him some space, he has the ability to hurt you at a lot of levels,” DeVries said. “He can really shoot the three, but can get into the lane and hurt you at the mid-range, as well. You can’t give him a lot of space.”

The Buffaloes will also have a size advantage in the game, with six players in the rotation who are 6-foot-8 or taller. Malone, a transfer from the NAIA level, is 6-10 and averages 10.9 points per game.

“They do have tremendous size across the entire team,” DeVries said. “They present some challenges with their versatility and length all the way across the board.”