Virginia vs. West Virginia Game Preview, Score Prediction
After hitting a major roadblock in a blowout loss to Wisconsin on Monday, Virginia looks to get back on track against West Virginia in the consolation game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off on Wednesday night. The Cavaliers and Mountaineers are both seeking to bounce back from disappointing defeats, but only one will depart from Fort Myers on a high note.
Read on for a full preview of Virginia vs. West Virginia, including game details and notes, an opponent scouting report, what to watch for, and a prediction for Wednesday night's matchup.
Game Details
Who: Virginia Cavaliers (4-1) vs. West Virginia Mountaineers (2-2)
When: Wednesday, November 22nd at 6pm ET
Where: Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers, Florida
How to watch: FS1
How to stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial)
How to listen: Virginia Sports Radio Network - click here for affiliates
All-time series: West Virginia leads 10-9
Last meeting: West Virginia defeated Virginia 68-61 on December 5th, 2017 in Morgantown.
Game Notes
- Virginia and West Virginia will meet for the 20th time on Wednesday.
- The Mountaineers hold a slim 10-9 advantage in the all-time series and won each of the last two meetings against the Cavaliers.
- Virginia and West Virginia met in three consecutive seasons from 2015-2017, with UVA winning the first matchup at the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden and West Virginia winning the next two games in Charlottesville and Morgantown.
- Virginia will not win its November non-conference tournament for the first time in 10 years.
Opponent Scouting Report: West Virginia
2022-2023: 19-15, 7-11 Big 12, Lost in NCAA 1st Round
2023-2024: 2-2
Last season, West Virginia made the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time under Hall of Fame head coach Bob Huggins. Then came a troubled offseason that saw Huggins ultimately step down following multiple incidents, including a drunk driving arrest, and then Huggins claimed that he hadn't actually signed a resignation letter two weeks after WVU announced he had resigned.
Josh Eilert is currently serving as the program's interim coach. He has been with the program since 2007, but he only recently moved into an assistant coaching role. With such turbulence surrounding the program, it should come as no surprise that the Mountaineers entered this season with many question marks regarding their roster. West Virginia did bring in a haul of transfers this offseason, but three of those transfers are currently unavailable. Arizona transfer guard Kerr Kriisa, who led the Pac-12 in assists in back-to-back seasons, is serving a nine-game suspension for accepting impermissible benefits while with the Wildcats. Georgetown transfer Akok Akok has been out since he collapsed on the floor during an exhibition game in late October. Montana State transfer RaeQuan Battle will not be allowed to play this year after having his waiver appeal to play immediately denied by the NCAA.
With those roster limitations, depth has become the No. 1 concern for West Virginia and it has proven to be a significant weakness for the Mountaineers in their 2-2 start to the season. West Virginia began the year with a win over Missouri State, but then lost at home to Monmouth. After beating Jacksonville State to move to 2-1, WVU built an 11-point halftime lead on SMU on Monday in Fort Myers, but the Mustangs rallied, leaning on an 11-man rotation to eventually outlast the Mountaineers 70-58. Only six players played double digit minutes for West Virginia in that game and five played more than 30 minutes.
But here's the problem for Virginia. After UVA's thin front court was exposed by Wisconsin, the Cavaliers now face a West Virginia team whose strength is in the front court. 6'11" center Jesse Edwards is a name UVA fans should be quite familiar with, as this will be the sixth time in his career that Edwards has faced Virginia. Edwards transferred to West Virginia from Syracuse, where he led the ACC in blocks and averaged a double-double last season. In two meetings against the Cavaliers last season, Edwards first continued a trend of poor performances with just four points, but then delivered a solid effort with 14 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks in the second game. This season, Edwards is averaging 15.3 points on 53.8% shooting to go along with 10.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. He had 18 points and nine rebounds in West Virginia's loss on Monday.
Alongside Edwards in the front court is Iona transfer Quinn Slazinski, who is currently West Virginia's leading scorer at 16.3 points per game. Slazinski is a 6'9" forward and is capable of grinding in the paint, but he is also shooting 44.0% from beyond the arc on more than six three-point attempts per game so far this season. Ryan Dunn will have his hands full, as will Blake Buchanan, Jake Groves, and whoever else the Cavaliers decide to throw at Edwards on Wednesday night. Virginia must get better defensive play in the front court and, more importantly, improve drastically from a defensive rebounding standpoint.
6'3" junior Kobe Johnson is also averaging in double figures at 11.0 points per game and is a willing three-point shooter, but hasn't shot it well from deep so far at 13.3%. 6'7" sophomore wing Josiah Harris also takes a lot of threes, but has been similarly unimpressive so far at 25.0%. It's imperative that the Cavaliers not give either Johnson or Harris too many open looks from three so as to pull out of their early shooting slumps.
6'2" junior guard Seth Wilson is a good three-point shooter at 41.2%, but he has been coming off the bench for the Mountaineers for the last two games after starting the first two games. West Virginia has opted to go with some more size with 6'6" forward Ofri Naveh starting the last two contests.
What to Watch For
Front Court Matchups
As has been the case with each of Virginia's games against major conference opponents this season, all eyes will be on the front court. After getting exposed by Wisconsin's Steven Crawl and Tyler Wahl on Monday, UVA must get better defensive execution from the tandem of Ryan Dunn and Blake Buchanan or Jake Groves or even Jordan Minor if Tony Bennett chooses to give him a chance. It's essential that Virginia either successfully defend West Virginia's bigs one-on-one or better execute the double-teams in the post.
Rebounding
This goes hand-in-hand with the emphasis on the front court matchups, but it bears repeating. The Cavaliers got by against Florida despite giving up several offensive rebounds because of the lift Blake Buchanan gave them on the other end of the floor. But Virginia couldn't get away with its poor defensive rebounding against Wisconsin as the Badgers were already shooting at a high clip, while UVA, with the exception of a stretch early in the second half, was ice-cold shooting the ball as a team. UVA must improve its defensive rebounding against West Virginia.
Depth
Tony Bennett is not known for running deep rotations, but with a roster filled with new faces and not very many proven returners, his hand has been forced to an extent. Virginia has nine players averaging more than 14 minutes played per game and Leon Bond III is the low man there, averaging 14.6 minutes per game despite scoring 7.6 points in that limited playing time. With West Virginia having a heavily restricted rotation, it would be wise for the Cavaliers to lean on their depth, and Bond could be an X-factor with his mid-range shooting if Virginia struggles offensively again.
Prediction
Virginia's biggest flaws - defensive rebounding, front court depth, and general offensive stagnation - were exposed in the blowout loss to Wisconsin on Monday. But that was one game and this team still has a very high ceiling. Wednesday's game presents a very quick opportunity for this young Cavalier team to show it responds to adversity.
Score prediction: Virginia 62, West Virginia 57
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