West Virginia moved closer to being nationally ranked in the AP Top 25 college basketball poll after its showing at the Phil Knight Legacy Tou…

After running out to a 4-0 record against overmatched opponents in the early going of the men’s basketball season, the Mountaineers were looking forward to their first real test of the 2022-23 campaign when they traveled to the blue-blood populated Phil Knight Legacy in Portland, Oregon, for three games over the Thanksgiving weekend.

West Virginia didn’t stand up well to its first significant challenge of ’22, though, as it fell behind Purdue from the outset Thursday night, and though the Mountaineers battled until the end, they could never overtake the Boilermakers in their 80-68 victory.

“We were a little disappointed with our competitiveness,” said West Virginia assistant coach Ron Everhart on the MSN postgame radio show. “Obviously we didn’t shoot the ball very well (26 of 63), and I don’t think we rebounded it nearly as well as we have been, even in practice.

“Our biggest disappointment lies in our competitiveness – getting beat to loose balls, not being able to offensive rebound the basketball (just four second-chance points),” he continued. “I didn’t think we executed poorly, but we missed some good looks, and we missed some guys in transition. We had some careless turnovers where we had numbers that should have led to baskets but at times led to baskets for them. I think when we go back and look at the film, that was the difference in the game.”

Thursday night proved to be an uphill battle for WVU (4-1) from the very beginning, as it fell behind 9-0 in the first two and a half minutes before Jimmy Bell finally got West Virginia on the scoreboard. The Mountaineers would trail the entire way.

The Boilers’ combination of size and skill allowed them to make 56% of their field goal attempts (14 of 25), 45% of their threes (5 of 11) and 100% of their free throws (10 of 10) in the first half. Purdue’s big man Zach Edey led the way in the opening 20 minutes with 12 points, and his four rebounds helped UP dominate the boards (19-13) in the period. Meanwhile, WVU made just 13 of 33 first-half shots and were only two of 15 from three in that time frame. The Boilermakers led 43-32 at halftime.

West Virginia forwards Emmitt Matthews and Tre Mitchell managed just three and two points respectively in the opening 20 minutes, and neither scored in the second half either.

“Emmitt Matthews has been getting IVs all day, because he has the stomach flu and has been dehydrated,” noted Everhart, who has been on head coach Bob Huggins’ staff since 2012. “He still gave us great minutes tonight (34) and was a warrior, considering he was as sick as he was.”

The Mountaineers top big men – Bell, Mitchell and Mo Wague – all found themselves in foul trouble, mostly from trying to muscle the 7-foot-4, 290-pound Edey.

Despite its foul trouble, which led Purdue to outscore West Virginia by 13 points at the free throw line (24 of 28 for UP in the game and 11 of 17 for WVU), the Mountaineers kept fighting in the second half. The Boilermakers’ lead grew to 57-43 seven minutes in the period, but West Virginia cut that deficit to just four, 66-62, after a Keedy Johnson 3-pointer at the 5:30 mark. UP pushed its advantage back to 12 a few minutes later before WVU made one final charge. A 3-pointer by Erik Stevenson drew the Mountaineers within 74-67 with 2:29 remaining. West Virginia missed a couple opportunities to get even closer, though, and ultimately scored just a single point the rest of the way. Purdue added to its lead down the stretch to win by 12.

“We fought hard but could never get over the hump,” stated Everhart. “There were some bright spots, but we knew Edey presented a problem. We thought our three (centers) would likely get into foul trouble, and they’d have to use all 15 fouls between them in guarding him. (Edey) played well. He made some jump hooks out further away from the basket than he normally does.”

Edey finished with 24 points, including 10 of 12 from the foul line, to go along with 12 rebounds to lead the Boilers (4-0). Three Mountaineers reached double figures, as Stevenson had 17, while Joe Toussaint added 16 and Keedy Johnson notched 11.

WVU made just 41.3% of its field-goal attempts in the game (26-63) and 22.7% of its threes (5-22), while Purdue was 51.1% from the field (24-47) and 47.1% from three (8-17). UP won the rebounding battle (34-32), though despite West Virginia’s advantage in the turnover department (18 for Purdue and 12 for WVU), the Boilermakers actually earned more points off turnovers, 17-13.

“I still think we’re a good basketball team, but we just have to compete a little harder,” concluded Everhart. “There are some things we can build on from tonight. We have to turn the page.”

Through the first couple of weeks of the 2022-23 men’s basketball season, West Virginia hasn’t been challenged, winning each of its four games by at least 18 points.

The Mountaineers will find out what they’re made of this week, though, as they travel to Portland, Oregon, where they’ll play three games over four days in the Phil Knight Legacy in a field that features some outstanding teams.

“This is playing the who’s who of college basketball,” stated WVU’s Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins. “You look at the names, and I think everybody recognizes the names and who is coaching them, who their great players were over the years.

“You look at this as an opportunity; an opportunity to put yourself in pretty good standing nationally.”

First up for the Mountaineers in Portland is a showdown with No. 24 Purdue (3-0) on Thanksgiving night (10 p.m. Eastern, ESPN2) at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Then on Friday the action will move to the Moda Center, where West Virginia will face either No. 6 Gonzaga (3-1) or Portland State (2-2) with the first-round winners meeting at 11:30 p.m. on ESPN, while the losers will tip off at 9 p.m. on ESPNews.

The other side of the eight-team PKL bracket features No. 8 Duke (3-1), Oregon State (3-1), Florida (3-1) and Xavier (3-1). WVU will meet one of those four on Sunday in a tipoff that could range from 3:30 p.m. (ABC) for the championship to 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) for the third-place game. Tip times and TV availability for Sunday’s fifth- and seventh-place games, both of which will be held at the Chiles Center, won’t be announced until after Friday’s contests conclude.

Though West Virginia has won each of its first four games this season handily, Huggins still has questions about his club.

“We’re last in the league in rebounding (actually seventh in rebounding margin at +5.6), which if you ask a couple of our guys, they’ll tell you that’s because we are making more shots than you usually make (50.5%, second in the Big 12). There might be some truth to that,” analyzed the veteran coach, whose 920 career wins ties him with Jim Calhoun for the third most in NCAA men’s basketball history. “We have to guard better. We haven’t guarded very well, and we have to guard better.

“There are some more things we would like to get into the arsenal, and I think this is a good opportunity to see how the things we’re trying to explore work against quality people.”

West Virginia’s tests in Portland start with a Purdue program that holds a 7-1 all-time mark against the Mountaineers, and then could potentially feature Gonzaga (5-0 against WVU), Duke (18-7), Florida (7-3), Xavier (1-1), Oregon State (0-3) or Portland State (no previous meetings).

Big challenges can also bring big rewards, though.

“This is a great opportunity for us,” stated Huggins. “This is probably as similar to playing in the NCAA Tournament as anybody could do all year, probably this and the conference tournament.

“Playing people early I think is good. Say we go 3-0 out there, that’s huge. That puts us in a different category than we are because of a year ago (when WVU was 16-17). If you go 0-3, though, then you are struggling to catch up.”

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The Mountaineers’ 14-man roster will soon grow to 15.

Jose Perez enrolled at WVU last week after transferring from Manhattan. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound guard is not yet able to practice with his new team, or play in a game, as he is awaiting clearance for both from the NCAA.

He was a first-team all-MAAC performer last season at Manhattan, where he averaged 18.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.

Perez isn’t going to have a preseason to adjust to his new squad, though, as he will be joining the Mountaineers midstream, whenever he is granted a waiver.

“I wouldn’t think it will be as tough as people are making it out to be,” said Huggins when asked about folding Perez into the rotation. “I had to do that at Akron, and I had to do it at Cincinnati a time or two.

“I play people because they deserve to play. I don’t play people because of their name or who they think they are or who somebody else thinks they are,” the coach continued. “I play them because we’re going to play the best guys because we’re going to try to win. That has yet to be seen, who our best seven, eight or nine guys are who are going to play the majority of the minutes.”

The many challenges WVU faces on Thanksgiving week in Portland could help sort that all out.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Kirsten Deans scored 12 points with six assists, 10 of 11 Mountaineers scored and No. 22-ranked West Virginia held off a tough challenge from Purdue, 65-57 at the St. Pete Showcase on Thursday night.

Purdue, under former Seattle Storm guard and two-time NAIA coach of the year Katie Gearlds, stayed within eight points of West Virginia for most of the game and drained 10 3-pointers to remain a threat.

West Virginia's defense toughened as Kari Niblack and Savannah Samuel blocked consecutive Purdue shots to end one possession with under three minutes to go. Esmery Martinez stole the ball to end the next and scored off the fast break, pushing the Mountaineers lead to nine, 63-54 with 1:23 left.

A'riana Gray scored 10 for West Virginia (4-0) and Madisen Smith, Jasmine Carson and Samuel each scored eight. West Virginia outscored Purdue 42-16 in the paint.

Purdue (4-2) was led by Brooke Moore's 13 points and 12 from Cassidy Hardin, who made four 3-pointers.

West Virginia hadn't scored fewer than 78 points this season. Purdue was aiming for its first win over a ranked opponent since 2019, having dropped the last 18.

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