What Darian DeVries Said Following the Win Over No. 24 Arizona

West Virginia University head coach Darian DeVries gives his initial thoughts on the Mountaineers upset win over the 24th-ranked Wildcats.

Nov 29, 2024; Paradise Island, Bahamas, BHS; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Darian DeVries reacts against the Arizona Wildcats during the first half at Imperial Arena at the Atlantis resort. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The West Virginia Mountaineers (5-2) upset the No. 24 Arizona Wildcats (3-4) in overtime 83-76.

West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries met with the media following the game and provided his thoughts on the Mountaineers second upset in two days at the Battle 4 Atlantis midseason tournament.

Three overtime games in as many days

I’ve never been a part of three games like that, especially with the quality of opponents that we went up against these last three days. So, just incredible resolve and grit and toughness from our group all three nights to come away with a win tonight and do it again over overtime, I couldn’t be any more proud of them.

WVU outrebounded Arizona by eight in the second half, along with 11 offensive rebounds

"I thought we had some guys making tremendous effort. (senior) Toby (Okani) and then Amani Hansberry, I thought they got us some huge possessions - some huge second chance opportunities, even on some of them they didn’t come down with the rebound, they got hands on balls, and they were everywhere. They were incredibly active and physical. We knew coming in this was going to tough night. Arizona is a tremendous rebounding team – got great size and physicality, and we knew we were going to have to give every ounce of effort we had to hang on the boards. And to come away up one on the glass I think said a lot about our group’s effort tonight."

Javon Small's 14 points and 8 assists after putting up 31 and 26 points respectively in the first two games of the tournament

"If 14 and eight is a bad night, I’ll take that every single night. [He] played 43 minutes again. He’s probably rested about six total minutes this weekend. I thought he was incredibly good at both ends of the floor, controlling the game. He’s just a winner and what I loved about him tonight he recognized some other guys had it going – he was a very willing passer. He’s all about the right things all the time."

Toby Okani averaging 14.3 points per game in the Battle 4 Atlantis, capped off with a 20-point output against Arizona

"Toby’s tremendous. Again, we’re talking about another guy that can really play. He’s got all those tools. He’s six-eight, he’s long, he can defend, he can score it, and he’s done a tremendous job of fitting into what’s best for our team and he can do even more and tonight you can kind of see that. His success rate has gone up dramatically as he’s gotten more and more comfortable with us. He gives us great effort, great attitude every single day. Again, another guy, he just wants to win, and that’s why I love this group He’ll continue to get better and better. He’s all about the right things and, again, another guy that will play beyond his time here."