WVU bounces back to down Iona, 86-43

IN CONTROL — WVU point guard Javon Small possesses the ball against Iona on Wednesday. – Benjamin Powell/The Dominion Post

MORGANTOWN — It would be easy to write up West Virginia’s 86-43 victory over Iona on Wednesday night with a tip toward the Mountaineers’ defense.

After all, the Gaels were held to just 23.7% shooting, and over 40 frustrating moments, Iona was held to just 14 baskets.

“I thought overall, our guys were pretty good,” WVU head coach Darian DeVries said. “Holding them to 23.7%, I believe that’s their lowest in 20 years.”

Rather than scour over the Iona media guide to back that up, we instead bring up the play of WVU point guard Javon Small.

The senior transfer from Oklahoma State has been the Mountaineers’ most consistent player in what has been four games filled with story lines that few saw coming.

He was at it again against the Gaels (1-4), filling up the box score like hot dogs being stuffed into the buns at the Coliseum concession stands.

It starts with his 23 points, and Small was both Mr. Outside and Mr. Inside in this game.

He nailed five of WVU’s season-high 15 3-pointers, but then also found himself scoring off of cuts to the rim, as well as on a fast break and then getting himself to the free-throw line.

“It wasn’t just me scoring, but I’ve been struggling with turnovers in the first few games,” Small said. “Five assists and one turnover is a pretty good stat.”

For added measure, those five assists looked real nice next to his five rebounds and four steals.

“That’s the type of stat line I think he can do consistently. I really believe that,” DeVries said. “He’s that type of player. There’s a lot of winning numbers on that stat sheet for him.”

That was the topic of discussion between coach and player coming out of last week’s loss against Pitt.

DeVries asked Small to be more aggressive and more confident with the ball in his hands.

And Small responded.

“This week in practice, I was trying to be more aggressive,” he said. “I’ve been seeing the ball go through the hoops a lot more, which I know I’m capable of doing. I’m making the right reads, so this was definitely my best game so far.”

The Mountaineers (3-1) followed Small’s lead. They had nine 3-pointers by halftime, which led to a 45-22 advantage at the break.

That quickly ballooned to 30 points and eventually 40 points in the second half, as WVU never took its foot off the gas pedal.

“We were better,” DeVries said. “We moved the ball better, we were more connected. You hit 15 threes, that’s usually a pretty good night. We’ll certainly take that.”

Tucker DeVries bounced back after a tough outing against Pitt. He connected on three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points.

WVU’s 15 threes was its most since also hitting 15 against St. Joseph’s in 2018.

WVU also hit 51.8% of its shots, the Mountaineers’ second-best shooting night of the season.

On the defensive side, WVU blocked 11 shots and forced 21 turnovers.

“I felt good about the defense,” Small said. “We were in the gaps like we usually are. We talked on defense. We’ve still got to get better at rebounding. If we take away their second-chance points, then we hold them to an even lower percentage.”

Notes

• WVU has lost the tip in all four games this season.

• Freshman forward Jonathan Powell finished with 11 points and hit three 3-pointers. He’s scored in double digits in all four games this season.

• A game after being held to just two points and three rebounds and fouling out against Pitt, Amani Hansberry bounced back with 10 points and nine rebounds.

• The 21 turnovers forced by WVU was a season high.