The West Virginia Mountaineers knocked off No. 19 BYU at the Coliseum Saturday night, ending a three-game losing streak with a 79-71 win.
WVU jumped out to a fast start, forcing a turnover on BYU’s opening possession and converting it into points. The Mountaineers built the lead steadily from there, with the defense doing a lot of the heavy lifting early — BYU went extended stretches without a field goal as the Mountaineers locked in on the Cougars. DJ Thomas knocked down a pair of threes late in the first half to help push the lead, and Brenen Lorient was a constant problem on the offensive glass, consistently keeping possessions alive when shots didn’t fall. WVU ended the half on a 20-4 run and took a 40-26 lead into the break.
BYU came out of the half reenergized. Dybantsa, who had just four points on one-of-four shooting in the first half, was considerably more aggressive after halftime and finished with 16 of his 20 points in the second half. Rob Wright kept the Cougars within striking distance as well, finishing with a game-high 23 points. The lead that felt comfortable at halftime kept shrinking, and the Coliseum got quiet in the way it does when you’ve watched this team blow leads three games in a row.
But this time was different. Chance Moore made a heads-up steal in transition when WVU needed a stop, and with 18 seconds left and the Cougars threatening, Lorient came across and blocked Dybantsa on a three from the left corner. Huff secured the ball and that was that.
Lorient finished with 18 points and 9 rebounds, 7 offensive, scoring 14 of those points in the second half. Thomas added 13 off the bench. Moore chipped in 11 points and 8 rebounds while tasked with keeping Dybantsa locked down. Jasper Floyd added 11. Honor Huff finished with 19 points and is now at 99 threes on the season — one away from becoming just the third Mountaineer ever to reach 100 in a single year.
The Mountaineers travel to the Little Apple on Tuesday to take on Kansas State before returning home for their regular season finale against UCF on Friday. Tipoff for Tuesday’s matchup with the Wildcats is set for 8:00PM on ESPN+.
Game Highlights
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