Rapid Reactions to West Virginia's Overtime Win Over Arizona

Breaking down West Virginia's win over Arizona.

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Friday evening, the West Virginia Mountaineers earned a third-place finish in the 2024 Battle 4 Atlantis with an 83-76 win over the Arizona Wildcats in overtime.

Here are a few of my takeaways from today's game.

A relentless bunch

The one thing that has really stood out to me through the first seven games of the season is how mentally tough this group is. Whether it's a slow start, a cold offensive stretch, or a disjointed defense, they just seem unfazed by any level of adversity. You could see it in the first handful of games, but you can tell they really started to buy in and believe since the second half of the Gonzaga game. What makes their grit even more impressive is that they played as tough as nails for three straight days, all of which went to overtime. They had every excuse to be tired or out of gas, but they put their blinders on and just kept at it.

DeVries the best shot-maker since???

West Virginia has had a handful of consistent bucket-getters over the last decade or so, such as Sean McNeil, Taz Sherman, and others, but DeVries may be the best since Da'Sean Butler. Not only can he make the heavily contested shots, but he has all the confidence in the world to keep letting it fire. Plus, he can be a consistent three-level scorer, but that wasn't necessarily the case for the other guys who were more spot-up shooters.

Toby Okani has some offense? Okay

On a day when Javon Small was a little bit off offensively, the Mountaineers desperately needed someone to step up and fill the void. Who would have guessed that Tony Okani would be that guy? Certainly not me. The defensive-minded forward came up with big shot after big shot and had a smooth-looking stroke from the perimeter, which was a little unexpected. Okani played big today, and if he can offer just a little bit of offense on a nightly basis, this team will be in great shape moving forward.

KJ Tenner over Joseph Yesufu

Tenner provides a nice little (no pun intended) boost of energy when he's on the floor. He's so quick and agile that he becomes a bit of a menace on the defensive end of the floor. Despite his lack of size, he doesn't lack confidence with the ball in his hands either. The fact that he appears to be ahead of Joseph Yesufu in the rotation says a lot about how far he's come in such a short period of time.

West Virginia will have a much-needed full week's worth of rest as they will take the floor next Friday against Georgetown in the Big 12-Big East Battle.

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