Mountaineers, Hoyas to Meet in a Friday Night Big 12-Big East Battle
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Georgetown will be making its first WVU Coliseum appearance in 12 years when the two old Big East rivals meet in a Big 12-Big East Battle on Friday night.In games so far, Villanova defeated Cincinnati 68-60 and Providence downed BYU 83-64 on Tuesday night.
Wednesday's action saw Creighton upset top-ranked Kansas 76-63 and 25th-ranked Connecticut upend 15th-ranked Baylor 76-72.
Sixth-ranked Iowa State got the Big 12 on the right side of things with an 81-70 win over No. 5 Marquette, while Texas Tech disposed of DePaul 76-62.
TCU and Xavier will meet tonight in Fort Worth ahead of Friday night's West Virginia-Georgetown matchup. More games are on tap this weekend, including Kansas State at St. John's and Butler at Houston on Saturday. The challenge concludes on Sunday with Oklahoma State playing at Seton Hall.
The 7-1 Hoyas provide an intriguing challenge with their great size reminiscent of the old John Thompson-coached Hoya teams that featured the likes of Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning.
Freshman center Thomas Sorber, a 6-foot-10, 255-pound freshman from Trenton, New Jersey, has been a double-double machine for Georgetown this year and is leading the team in scoring (15.8 ppg.) and rebounding (8.9 rpg.).
Sorber scored a team-best 23 points during Monday night's 86-62 victory over UMBC, displaying excellent scoring ability around the basket. He also leads the Hoyas with 14 blocks and has also made 14 steals.
Sophomore Drew Fielder also provides outstanding size, standing 6-feet-11 inches and weighing 235 pounds, while contributing 7.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
TCU transfer Micah Peavy, who was a factor in both Horned Frog victories over West Virginia last year, is a 6-foot-8, 220-pounder who is averaging 14.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
For good measure, the Hoyas can bring 7-footer Julius Halaifonua and 6-foot-9 Kentucky transfer Jordan Burks off the bench. Burks is getting 18.6 minutes per game and shows averages of 6.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
Despite the impressive size, the Hoyas are only out-rebounding their opponents by an average of 4.5 boards per game.
Coach Ed Cooley's starting backcourt consists of 6-foot-2 Harvard transfer Malik Mack, averaging 13 points per game, and 6-2 Illinois transfer Jayden Epps, averaging 13.9 points per contest.
Georgetown, as a team, is shooting just 28.6% from 3, connecting on 53 of its 185 attempts.
The Hoyas' seven victories have come against Lehigh, Fairfield, Mount St. Mary's, Saint Francis, Wagner, UAlbany and UMBC, while its lone loss was an 84-63 verdict to Notre Dame at Capital One Arena.
All eight of their games have either been played in Washington, D.C. either at Capital One Arena or their on-campus facility, McDonough Arena.
"It's a big game for us," West Virginia coach Darian DeVries said earlier today. "They are playing well; they've got a good record, and they're doing some good things. It's a great game for our fan base and a great challenge for us as well."
West Virginia's seven outings so far this year have been far more challenging, including a 24-point loss at rival Pitt and recent games against third-ranked Gonzaga, Louisville and 24th-ranked Arizona in the Bahamas, all three overtime affairs.
WVU outlasted the Zags 86-78 before falling a day later to Louisville 79-70. The trip ended with the Mountaineers defeating Arizona 83-76 to earn votes in this week's two major polls.
Guard Javon Small scored 31 in the Gonzaga victory and added 26 a day later against Louisville. Tucker DeVries was West Virginia's top point producer against Arizona with 26, including an 8-for-12 shooting performance from 3.
Forward Toby Okani contributed a season-high 20 points against the Wildcats.
Darian DeVries said his team took advantage of the week to get some rest.
"Saturday was a long travel day, Sunday was a recovery day, Monday was a practice and Tuesday was off," he said. "We need to get our legs back a little bit because it was not just three games, but three and change."
Small, recently named Big 12 Player of the Week, boosted his season scoring average to 19 points per game. DeVries is contributing 14.9 points per contest, shooting a team-best 46.9% from 3, while 6-foot-8 sophomore forward Amani Hansberry is scoring at a 12.6 points-per-game clip.
West Virginia (5-2) is shooting 35.4% from 3, connecting on 75 of its 212 attempts. The Mountaineers are outscoring their opponents by an average of 8.4 points per game.
The last time Georgetown played here on Jan. 7, 2012, John Thompson III was coaching the Hoyas and Bob Huggins was leading the Mountaineers.
West Virginia won that game 74-62 behind guard Truck Bryant's 25 points and forward Kevin Jones' 22 points and 16 rebounds. Hollis Thompson was Georgetown's top point maker with 20.
The two teams have played twice since, both at McDonough Arena. The Hoyas defeated West Virginia 77-65 in an NIT matchup in 2014, and WVU topped Georgetown 80-71 on Dec. 6, 2020.
West Virginia and Georgetown have met 53 times since 1922, including 23 games in Morgantown where West Virginia holds a 15-8 edge. The two have played 27 contests in Washington, D.C., and three times on neutral sites, once coming in the 2010 Big East Tournament Championship at Madison Square Garden where the Mountaineers won 60-58.
The Hoyas hold a 27-26 edge in the series.
Friday night's game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN2 (Chuckie Kempf and Jon Crispin).
"I'm excited," DeVries said. "This is really going to be the first time we get a full crowd and get to see what the Coliseum has to bring."
Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage with Tony Caridi, Brad Howe and David Kahn will get things going at 6 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
Tickets are available and can be purchased through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by logging on to WVUGAME.com. Fans attending the game are encouraged to wear their gold in accordance with Friday night's Gold Rush promotion.
