West Virginia coach Ross Hodges believes his Mountaineers are ready for the stretch run after coming from behind by 14 points to win twice on the road in a 10-day span.
CBS Bracketology lists the Mountaineers (16-9, 7-5 Big 12) on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament heading into their final six regular-season games.
West Virginia only plays one ranked team (No. 23 BYU) and plays both 1-11 teams (Utah and Kansas State) to finish the Big 12 schedule.
The quest starts Wednesday when the Mountaineers host Utah (9-16, 1-11) in Morgantown, W.V.
West Virginia may have saved its season by coming back to beat UCF, 74-67, Saturday in Florida. That was after surviving a 14-point deficit in a 59-54 win at Cincinnati on Feb. 5.
Hodges said the Mountaineers need to approach every game the way they did when they were behind Saturday.
“This game becomes the biggest game you have been a part of,” he said. “There is a lot of belief and confidence in this group. I’m thankful they allow me to coach them hard and they allow me to tell them the truth. Sometimes they might not always like the way it is said or what is being said, but they respect it. I appreciate them for that.”
The Mountaineers continue to be led by senior guard Honor Huff, who averages 15.6 points per game, and senior forward Brenen Lorient (11.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg).
West Virginia also has received clutch play of late from senior guard Jasper Floyd, who had 17 points against UCF that included a 3-pointer to complete the comeback.
Floyd also leads the team with 47 steals.
“Jasper hit some monster shots down the stretch and played tremendous defense,” Hodges said.
The Utes are coming off a 69-65 loss to Cincinnati on Sunday in which they led by five with 1:56 to go only to be outscored 9-0 the rest of the way.
“Again, going to the maturity process,” Utah coach Alex Jensen said. “It gets to the Big 12 and it’s real. The maturity, like the focus, needs to get better.”
Junior guard Terrence Brown leads the Utes with 20.4 points, 3.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game.
Senior guard Don McHenry contributes 17.4 points per game with a team-high 63 3-pointers.
