What Darian DeVries Said Following the Win Over UMass

WVU head coach Darian DeVries recaps the second win of the season.

West Virginia University head coach Darian DeVries. / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

West Virginia was able to hold off UMass on Friday night, 75-69, to pick up their second win of the season. Following the game, head coach Darian DeVries met with the media to recap the action.

Satisfaction with the defense

“I thought the first half defensively, we were really pretty good. Because of that, I really thought it affected our offense. We were able to get out and get in transition off of some turnovers and things. In the first ten minutes or so, we weren’t getting stops, took away our transition game, allowed them to hang around and then it got tight. Overall, I thought we responded late defensively, made some big plays there to be able to seal the game off.”

Jonathan Powell’s effort off the bench

“I love the way JP’s playing. He’s playing really confident right now. He has the green light at any time and he’s not afraid to use it. I love both of those freshmen right now playing out there with confidence. Both games giving us a boost off the bench.”

If playing fast is part of this team’s identity

“Pace is great for us. It’s why we want to play that way. Get in the open floor, give ourselves the best opportunity to play against a broken defense. You’re not going to be able to do that every night because the game is going to get slow and they’re going to make it ugly at times. As a staff we’ve got to figure out when they get us in the halfcourt, what do we need to do to get a little bit better and give ourselves some more opportunities.”

Amani Hansberry driving the ball to the rim 

“He’s asked to be a facilitator and playmaker and step out and shoot it. They were pressed out a little bit, so he took advantage of it and was able to stick his head down and get north and south and get to the rim and made a really big finish there.”

Biggest concern

“Our biggest issue tonight was just the turnovers. We’re a team that takes a lot of pride in taking care of the ball and 14 turnovers is just too much for us. We’ve got to do a better job there, especially late in the game when we could kind of seal it away and make it a little less stressful. We had some untimely turnovers there.”

Eduardo Andre’s performance

“I thought he did a really good job. I thought he came in and impacted a couple shots at the rim because we don’t have a lot of rim protection. We’ve got to rely more on wall-ups and stuff like that. He came in and impacted a couple shots and had a few big plays there rebounding as well. That’s what I’ve told the guys sometimes it’s not going your way but continue to stay with it and you just never know what good can happen.”

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI

Ex-WVU Defensive Coordinator Jordan Lesley Arrested

Nicco Marchiol in Line to Start for West Virginia vs. Cincinnati

Phil Steele Reveals Who He's Taking in the WVU-Cincinnati Matchup

How to Watch + Listen to West Virginia vs. Cincinnati