January has arrived and with that, so has Big 12 play for West Virginia.
The Mountaineers head to No. 3 Houston, in desperate needs of just wins in general, but things won’t be easy for the gold and blue as they begin conference play.
Our staff predicts West Virginia vs Houston
Wesley Shoemaker: Close losses have been the name of the game for West Virginia through non-conference play. Now, they get rewarded with a trip to No. 3 Houston, and life will be quite hard for the Mountaineers. You’d want to say WVU should try to make this game physical, but without Jesse Edwards, getting physical, could end up being costly with a huge lack of front court depth. Also, RaeQuan Battle has gone for 29, 29, and 24 points respectively in three games. Can he continue this and if not who steps up. In the end, Houston is just too strong of a team and they will roll at home.
Houston 77, West Virginia 61
Patrick Reneau: West Virginia travels to Houston for their first conference matchup and I do not see this going well for West Virginia. The mountaineers have struggled to get shots from deep to fall as of late and they will need them against Houston. The Cougars, a very good team defensively, are not going to allow many open looks so if there is one, West Virginia will need to knock it down. One thing West Virginia cannot afford to do is start off slow like they did against Ohio State otherwise things will get ugly very quickly.
Houston 79, West Virginia 63
Ryan Roddy: In their first Big 12 matchup of the season, the Mountaineers face off against a tough opponent in No. 3 Houston. The Cougars have been a consistently dominant defensive squad that holds opposing teams to an average of under 50 points a game, while scoring an average of over 75 points a game. Although, I predict RaeQuan Battle to continue his extremely hot start, I believe WVU will still struggle significantly against the nations fifth best offensive rebounding team without center Jesse Edwards. L.J. Cryer has performed well against West Virginia in the past as a member of Baylor and should continue to do so with the Cougars. Keeping it closer than most would think, I anticipate the Mountaineers will ultimately fall to Houston after a slow start to the first half.
Houston 74, West Virginia 65
