On a day in which two ranked teams met defeat on the courts, coach Bob Huggins and his West Virginia Mountaineers made their case for inclusion in the Top 25.#13 Kansas was dumped by Davidson, 80-74 and LSU dropped #11 Marquette, 67-59. Meanwhile, West Virginia improved to 8-2 with a 72-53 blowout over Tennessee Tech.
The Mountaineers were buoyed by the all-around performance of Kevin Jones, who scored a game-high 25 points and hauled in 14 rebounds, also tops for the contest.
A 6'8" senior forward, Jones, the Mountaineers' leading scorer and rebounder (20.3, 11.4), had his sixth double-double of the season, going 11-for-20 from the field despite missing both of his 3-point attempts. He's scored in double figures every game this season, and the four times he didn't have double figures in rebounds, Jones pulled down eight and nine, twice each.
The Mountaineers two losses came against Kent on November 15 and Mississippi State on December 3. Since their loss to the Bulldogs, West Virginia has won four straight, including a double overtime win against then-unbeaten Kansas State and a 77-66 win over Miami.
Whether or not West Virginia belonga in the Top 25 will be put to the test in back-to-back games at Baylor on December 23 and in their home opener of their Big East schedule, against Villanova on the 28th.
The Mountaineers received no votes in the latest AP Top 25 poll, released Monday.
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