MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia returns to Hope Coliseum on Sunday to face Mercyhurst in a 3 p.m. nonconference clash.
The Mountaineers (5-2) are coming off losses to Clemson and Xavier in the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic at TD Arena in Charleston, South Carolina, last weekend.
In the opening game, WVU was in control of things until the Tigers went on a 24-11 run over the final eight minutes to rally for a 70-67 victory.
Two days later, the Mountaineers were unable to overcome Xavier’s 3-point shooting in a 78-68 defeat. In both instances, West Virginia gave up more than 70 points, snapping Hodge’s streak of 28 straight games of holding opponents below 70 points dating back to last season.
“I’m disappointed, but certainly not discouraged,” the coach said of his team’s performance during his radio show earlier this week. “The Clemson game, from the 10-minute mark of the first half until the five-minute mark of the second half, I kind of felt like we had the game where we wanted against a quality opponent on a neutral floor. But we couldn’t quite execute enough down the stretch offensively or defensively, and that one stung.”
Hodge said the Xavier game last Sunday was a matchup issue for his team, particularly on just one day of prep.
“Their style of basketball, that’s a very difficult offensive system to play against for the way that we play defense, in particular when you have a new team that hasn’t experienced what that feels like with their spacing and their ability to shoot the ball out of all five positions,” he explained. “Really, of the three teams down there, that was probably going to be the most difficult matchup for us.
“We were going to need them to miss a little bit, even when they were open, and they didn’t miss,” he added. “To have a team shoot the ball that well, making 16 3s, and to have it a two-possession game inside of four minutes, we at least had a chance despite the barrage of outside shooting; we just couldn’t get over the hump.”
Senior Treysen Eaglestaff snapped out of his early season scoring slump with a team-high 20 points against Xavier, which was a positive sign. He becomes the fifth different player to top 20 points in a game so far this year.
Hodge has indicated his desire of having someone else step up to become a reliable second scorer to compliment senior guard Honor Huff, who is averaging a team-best 17 points per game. Huff has scored double figures in all but one game this year, including a season-high 24 in the Lafayette victory.
Senior forward Brenen Lorient is the only other Mountaineer player averaging double figures at 11.3 points per game.
Forward Chance Moore, who sat out the first five games of the season to satisfy NCAA transfer requirements, scored 16 in his debut against Clemson. Two days later against Xavier, he failed to score, however.
Hodge mentioned earlier this week that he expects to have senior forward Jackson Fields available for Sunday’s game against the Lakers.
The 6-foot-8, 225-pounder has been recovering from a preseason wrist injury after last year helping Troy to a Sun Belt Conference championship and an NCAA Tournament berth. He averaged 7.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game for the Trojans.
Fields is a native of Missouri City, Texas.
“Barring any last-second setbacks, he’ll play Sunday,” Hodge said. “He was a full participant (Tuesday), didn’t sub out much and was there.”
Hodge said Fields will give the Mountaineers another athletic presence at the four and five positions.
“He’s a guy who has played a lot of basketball on an NCAA Tournament team,” Hodge said. “He’s played in high-stress moments, and he can stretch the floor from that position as well. He’s a very good vocal leader with great intangibles.”
Mercyhurst, under veteran coach Gary Manchel, is currently 3-4 on the season following last Sunday’s 69-60 loss at Marshall.
Jake Lemelman, a 6-foot-2, 165-pound senior guard, led Mercyhurst with 21 points against the Thundering Herd. His 13.9 points-per-game average ranks second to senior Bernie Blunt III’s team-best 16.3 points per game average.
He is the son of former St. Joseph’s guard Bernard Blunt, who frequently played against West Virginia when both schools were in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Sunday’s game will be Mercyhurst’s second-ever appearance at the Coliseum. Last year, West Virginia defeated the Lakers 67-46.
ESPN+ will provide the television coverage.
Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield radio coverage with Tony Caridi, Brad Howe and David Kahn will be available on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com, and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
Tickets remain on sale and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
