WVU stays undefeated in the new year against BYU

No. 18 West Virginia is back on track in conference play after falling in its first game to Colorado.

The Big 12 conference opener against Colorado in December was a wake up call for the Mountaineers. Since, Mark Kellogg’s squad has picked up two wins in January, against UCF on New Year’s Day and over BYU on Saturday.

With a strong third quarter performance, WVU overcame an early deficit to beat the Cougars 66-53 in Morgantown. The victory was once again grounded in defense, forcing 31 BYU turnovers.

BYU started the game off on top of the Mountaineers, scoring 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting while allowing just four turnovers in the first period. Trailing by seven, WVU made sure that did not continue in the second.

West Virginia continued to struggle from the field in the second, shooting 5-for-18 from the field after going 4-for-16 in the first. Forcing nine turnovers, though, the Mountaineers cut the BYU lead to two at the half.

Out of the half, BYU once again turned the ball over nine times as WVU took the lead. More importantly, the Mountaineers shined offensively for the first time in the game, allowing no turnovers and going 9-for-20 from the field for a 21-12 advantage in the period. BYU matched its turnover total one last time to build the Mountaineer lead in the fourth quarter.

JJ Quinerly was the driving force for WVU in the win, leading the team in steals with five and scoring with 19 despite shooting just 8-for-26 from the field, 2-for-9 from three, and 1-for-4 from the line.

5-foot-10 wing Kyah Watson added four steals as guards Jordan Harrison and Sydney Shaw grabbed three each. Sydney Woodley capped off WVU’s 16 total steals in 15 minutes off the bench.

True freshman Delaney Gibb led the Cougars in turnovers with 12, followed closely by sophomore guard Amari Whiting, who had seven. Whiting is the daughter of BYU head coach Amber Whiting, whose record with the program dropped to 41-39 with the loss.

WVU improved to 12-2 on the season and 2-1 in the Big 12 with the victory. The Mountaineers will look to take their defensive prowess, and hopefully a slightly more efficient offense, to Lubbock, Texas on Wednesday as they challenge 12-4 Texas Tech. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.