Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Honor Huff didn’t say he was fully back. He didn’t frame his night as a return to form or a breakthrough performance.
Instead, he framed it as something simpler — and, for West Virginia, more powerful.
Freedom.
On Saturday night, the senior guard led the Mountaineers with 19 points and dished out six assists.
In WVU’s 79–71 win over BYU, Huff played with a looseness that reflected both the pressure of the moment and the joy of embracing it. The Mountaineers needed a response after recent losses, and Huff delivered one by leaning into urgency rather than tightening under it.
“I wish I was a little bit more back into my rhythm, but just the do or die mindset we have right now as a team,” Huff said. “I think just the the camaraderie we’re bringing every day in these last 72 hours of of you know the defeat of Oklahoma State. Just not want to let my team down. I think I just came out with a kind of mindset of just I’m going to leave it all out there. I’m going to have some fun and I think it it shows in the in the plays that I was able to make and the plays that these guys were able to make.”
The Brooklyn, N.Y. native’s confidence rippled through the offense. His off-ball movement and shooting gravity pulled defenders with him, opening lanes for Brenen Lorient, who scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half as WVU repeatedly punished the Cougars for overcommitting.
The freedom Huff played with didn’t come from ignoring the stakes — it came from acknowledging them. With only two guaranteed games left in the regular season and postseason hopes hanging in the balance, Huff and his teammates understood the reality of the situation without letting it define them.
“I said this before, you always want to focus on the the next game at hand, but obviously we’re not naive to the fact that we have two games guaranteed in the regular season and obviously we’re still have a chance to do something special that we all want to do, which is go to the NCAA tournament, but can’t have any slip ups,” Huff said. “So, I just think it in turn our aggressiveness and assertiveness from the jump today really showed.”
The Chattanooga transfer’s assertiveness showed up not just in shot-making, but in poise during BYU’s runs. When the Cougars cut into the Mountaineers’ lead in the second half, the Mountaineers resisted the urge to rush, instead leaning on communication and composure, which played a large role in the game’s outcome.
“It’s kind of just like a calming sense of we’re here now,” Huff said. “Take the time to talk amongst each other, take a deep breath, and, you know, make the plays necessary to keep our lead.”
Saturday’s win also moved Huff to the edge of history. He finished the game sitting on 99 made 3-pointers this season, just one away from becoming only the third WVU player to reach 100 in a single year — a milestone he viewed less as an individual achievement and more as a reflection of trust.
“It’ll mean a lot,” Huff said. “I think come from my sophomore year at Chat, I’ve always I’ve gotten to hit the accolade of 100 threes, and I think it’s just a testament to the people around me, the confidence they have in me to shoot that many cuz I didn’t go 99 for 99. I can promise you that. So, just their confidence in me to to get them up and just the work I’ve put in since I was a kid. I mean, it all comes to fruition at this stage and I’m just grateful to be in this position to do that again this year.”
That trust — from coaches, teammates and fans — fueled a performance that was less about numbers and more about tone. Huff didn’t force the moment. He embraced it.
And in a do-or-die stretch of the season, that freedom helped the Mountaineers find exactly what they needed.
