Darian DeVries speaks on what the Mountaineers need to improve heading into game against Baylor

West Virginia has not seen back-to-back wins in 11 games, but head coach Darian DeVries is still confident heading into the back end of February.

The Mountaineers offense has seen improvements in the last few games, but it has not translated to wins. When asked what caused these losses, Darian DeVries had a surprising answer.

“I felt like a lot of those games (that we won) it was more of our defense that carried us, and that’s what propelled us to some of those big wins. The games we have lost it has been our defense that has let us down.”

This is a defense that was once top 10 in the country in opponent points per game and opponent field goal percentage. The Mountaineers have struggled in recent weeks to consistently get stops and DeVries feels that is why they have lost some big games.

Javon Small, West Virginia’s top performer, was dominant at the beginning of the year, but in recent games, he has been held in check. In their last contest against BYU, Small was held to nine points and only four field goal attempts.

DeVries was asked if the team would be looking to find Small ways to score. “That is something we are trying to do every game. There is only so much you can do, if you wanna commit two people to him all the time, then you gotta take what they give you. I think Javon has done that,” he said.

The Mountaineers control their destiny at this point in the season with six games remaining. “It’s February and we are playing for something, there are a lot of teams that aren’t right now,” said DeVries to his team.

West Virginia will take on a talented Baylor team on Sunday, Feb. 15. The Mountaineers are looking to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive.