Shanna Rose I WV Sports Chat
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia officially begins the Ross Hodge era on Tuesday night when the Mountaineers take on Mount St. Mary’s at the Hope Coliseum.
Donny Lind enters his second season leading the Mountaineers’ opponent. Last year, his squad overcame adversity to reach the conference tournament championship and went on to secure a First Four victory over American in the NCAA Tournament. The 23 wins posted by Lind’s team were the most ever by a first-year head coach in program history.
“Coach Lind and his staff have done an incredible job with that program,” Hodge said “His first year, they went to the NCAA Tournament and won a game.”
Mount St. Mary’s is coming off an 85–70 exhibition win over Hood College on Oct. 29. Anastasios Razakeas led the way with 21 points, knocking down 7-of-17 from beyond the arc. Luke McEldon added 18 points, while Xavier Lipscomb contributed 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Trey Deveaux chipped in 14 points and seven boards.
The Mount used a 31–9 second-half run to build an 83–57 lead and cruise to the win. As a team, Mount St. Mary’s shot 37.8 percent from 3-point range.
Lipscomb is the lone starter returning from last season. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound guard averaged 6.8 points, 4.3 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game.
“He’s tough, physical, can defend, and he runs their team,” Hodge said.
Another key member of last year’s squad was Arlandus Keyes. In 32 games, he averaged 6.8 points and hit 36.1 percent of his shots from long range.
McEldon, Razakeas and Deveaux were all additions from the transfer portal.
WVU is coming off an 80-54 exhibition game victory over Wheeling University last Sunday.
Big man Harlan Obioha led the Mountaineers with 19 points and eight rebounds while Brenen Lorient added 14 points.
WVU is expected to be a strong 3-point shooting team this season, but connected on just 6-of-20 attempts against Wheeling. Honor Huff and Treysen Eaglestaff combined to shoot 3-for-14 from deep.
Huff, a transfer from Chattanooga, led the nation with 131 made 3-pointers last season while shooting 41.6 percent from beyond the arc. He averaged 15.2 points per game.
Eaglestaff averaged 18.9 points while shooting 41.6 percent from the field, 35.9 percent from 3 and 79.4 percent from the free throw line. He was the only player in Division 1 with multiple 40-point games.
Chance Moore will miss the first five games to satisfy NCAA transfer requirements, while Jackson Fields remains out as he recovers from a hand injury.
This will be the seventh all-time meeting between the programs and the fifth time they have faced off in a season opener. WVU holds a 6–0 series lead.
The most recent matchup came on Nov. 7, 2022, when the Mountaineers earned a 76–58 victory.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. (ET) and the game will stream on ESPN+.
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