Rapid Reactions to West Virginia's Start-to-Finish Dominating Win Over Iona

Some takeaways from the Mountaineers' third win of the season.

Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The West Virginia Mountaineers wasted no time putting that dreadful performance versus Pitt behind them, jumping out to a comfortable lead very early in the first half of Wednesday night's game against Iona.

WVU kept a 20-30-point stiff arm for much of the day before going on to win 86-43.

Here are a few takeaways from tonight's action.

Javon Small needs to be a dude

Four games in, Oklahoma State transfer Javon Small appears to be as good as advertised. He had an impressive 23-point outing tonight to go along with five rebounds, five assists, and four steals. But when teams take away Tucker DeVries like Pitt did last week, Small needs to emerge as a problem for opponents.

For West Virginia to be competitive in the Big 12, they're going to need their top players to carry the load. DeVries will be everyone's focus, but Small needs to continue this strong start to the year and be an all-league caliber player.

Powell needs to add to his scoring arsenal

There's no question about it, true freshman Jonathan Powell can shoot the three-ball at a high clip. It's a smooth, repeatable shot that will help him be one of the better three-point shooters the program has seen in recent memory.

As good as Powell is from beyond the arc, it's only going to take him so far. The deeper things get into the season, opposing teams are going to do everything within their power to chase him off the three-point line and force him to put the ball on the deck and attack the rim.

Every time he tries to attack and drive the ball, he seems to get a little sped up, resulting in a turnover or making a bad decision with the ball. Adding a mid-range jumper or finding more success driving the ball to the rim can be the difference in him averaging 8-10 per game and 14-16 per game.

Hansberry will flourish in 2025-26

Because of the lack of true bigs on the roster, Amani Hansberry has to play the five, and at times, you can see how his size hurts him on the inside. Eduardo Andre is a serviceable backup but is not someone that Darian DeVries will insert into the starting lineup at any point this season.

Hansberry will improve with more experience he gains in this system and with more games under his belt at the five, but his best basketball will come next season when West Virginia goes out and grabs a true center out of the portal, allowing him to slide to a more natural position at the four.

Next up:

West Virginia will not play again until next Wednesday when they meet Gonzaga in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. EST and will be televised on ESPN.

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