MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Back home at the Hope Coliseum, Ross Hodge’s WVU basketball team secured a win in a game that saw the Buffaloes storm back until the Mountaineers pulled away.
Needing to start out strong and build a Big 12 wins streak, the Mountaineers jumped on the Buffaloes early, holding a 13-6 lead after the first two minutes of play on Saturday night. West Virginia’s early run included seven points and a big three from Treysen Eaglestaff.
Amir Jenkins and Chance Moore also drilled a couple baskets.
Eaglestaff, who has endured and down season, stayed hot the rest of the first half, connecting on his first four field goal attempts and even bringing down three key rebounds.
The Mountaineers mounted their advantage that reached 20-10 with 10:58 on the clock without anything from their leading scorer Honor Huff. That would quickly change though.
Huff joined the fun for the first time by sinking a corner three, further demoralizing the visitors.
But this one continued to be the Eaglestaff show throughout the rest of the half and game. He splashed his second three, staying perfect shooting wise, almost immediately after returning from his first breather.
Colorado would eventually hit some shots, much more spread out with five different Buffaloes on the board, and build some momentum of their own, keeping the game close and 26-20 with 6:22 remaining in the opening session.
Making sure his team stayed out in front before the close of the half, Huff hit a long range two – his foot was just shy of the line.
Harlan Obioha started stepping up on the defensive end to calm Colorado’s effort down – he brought down five boards in the first half.
Trying to increase their lead and burry the Buffaloes, Eaglestaff and Jenkins scored as the second half got underway. And with 17:14 on the clock, the Mountaineers led 40-33.
However, the opposite would occur over the next three minutes, as Colorado went on a 6-0 run and cut their deduct to 40-39, the closest difference since the start of the game.
DJ Thomas finished off a layup to put an end to West Virginia’s drought. Felix Kossaras responded with one of his own and gave Colorado their first lead of the night.
As the clock reached under 12 minutes to go, Eaglestaff saved the day and helped get the Mountaineers back on top after both teams traded baskets. At this time, Eaglestaff had 17 points and the score read 47-46 in favor of West Virginia.
Eaglestaff ignited the crowd again with a contested jump shot and then his third three-pointer – he was 3-for-7 from three with 9:50 left – to push the score to 52-46. He did it again moments later with a layup, scoring in even possible way.
Off the glass 🤝
📺 CBSSN pic.twitter.com/dM2K9FmeOB
— WVU Men's Basketball (@WVUhoops) January 18, 2026
West Virginia was building a big advantage once again, 55-46 with 9:05 remaining.
Several minters later as West Virginia started to lock up the victory, Brenen Lorient buried any hope Colorado had left with a three at 4:09. That three was his third of the game on just four attempts.
Eaglestaff finished with 22, Lorient had a mostly quiet 12, granted it included a monster three with just over four minutes left, and Honor Huff totaled 10 points, down from his season average of 17.2 points per game.
Tough defense and critical rebounding in the final two minutes would result in West Virginia winning the game by a score of 72-61.
With the win, the Mountaineers are now 12-6 (3-2, Big 12) as they prepare to head west to face Arizona State at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Jan. 21.
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