The court was stormed in Morgantown Saturday after the Mountaineers shocked the college basketball world by defeating former No. 3 Kansas (Now No. 7) 91-85, after a lackluster start to their season.
In that game, West Virginia shot lights out 51.8% from the field and an impressive 57.1% from three, compared to Kansas’ 30.4% from the arc.
RaeQuan Battle and Pat Suemnick led the charge against the Jayhawks with Battle scoring 23 points and Suemnick 20.
“We’re trending in the right direction and we got to keep that momentum going I was very pleased with how we you know performed offensively against Kansas,” West Virginia men’s basketball interim head coach Josh Eilert said on Monday.
As for UCF, they’re coming off a loss to defensively dominant No. 5 Houston 57-42 on the road.
The Knights only had one player finish in double-figures: Forward Marchelus Avery who came off the bench and scored 10 in 24 minutes.
UCF did a much better job at containing the Cougars’ offense than WVU, as the Mountaineers allowed Houston to score 89 points when they played earlier this month.
“Their physicality, they really lock in on the defensive end they have good size from top to bottom so we’re going to have to be good with the ball,” Eilert said of his biggest concern about UCF on Monday.
The Knights also held Kansas to fewer points when they pulled off the upset on Jan. 10 65-60 and forced 18 Jayhawks turnovers.
“They’re a really good defensive team and they force a lot of turnovers,” Eilert said of Central Florida.
UCF forces 15.7 turnovers a game on average.
Junior guard Jaylin Sellers is UCF’s top scorer averaging 17.1 points per game, shooting 42.9% from the field.
Supporting Sellers in the backcourt is fellow junior G Darius Johnson who averages 13.5 points and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 38.6% from three.
As a team, UCF averages 72.8 ppg, allowing their opponents to score 64.6 ppg.
The Mountaineers currently have a negative scoring margin of -3.8, averaging 68.9 ppg, allowing 72.7 ppg.
The Knights average one more turnover a game than WVU does, 13.1-12.1.
West Virginia has not won a game outside of their Coliseum this season (0-5).
The Mountaineers’ center Jesse Edwards who, has been out with a fractured wrist since suffering it on Dec. 16 in a loss to UMass, will be evaluated and could see a return to the rotation if not the starting lineup for West Virginia on Tuesday.
According to odds by ESPNBET, UCF is currently favored over WVU, as -8.5 point favorites with an over/under of 140.5.
ESPN Analytics’ Matchup Predictor gives West Virginia a 12.4% chance of defeating UCF.
Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. EST in Orlando, with the game being streamed on ESPN+.
