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Welcome, By-Godders, to The Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU’s best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor, and daily distractions.
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Basketball
Mountaineers fall three spots in AP poll
The West Virginia men’s basketball fell three spots to #20 in this week’s AP Top 25. Last week WVU had a home win against Oklahoma State and an overtime loss on the road against TCU.
West Virginia Falls in Rematch Against Texas, 67-57
The #20 West Virginia men’s basketball team limped into Austin for a rematch with a resurgent Texas team and picked up another loss, 67-57. This game seemed to perfectly capture every struggle the Mountaineers currently face in the season.
West Virginia Athletics
Adams Caps Undefeated Regular Season
Redshirt sophomore Noah Adams of the West Virginia wrestling team finished the regular season with a perfect 29-0 record, as WVU dropped a heartbreaker to Utah Valley, 20-19, at the WVU Coliseum, on Sunday. Adams, a native of Coal City, West Virginia, became the first Mountaineer since three-time NCAA Champion Greg Jones to complete the season sweep.
Mountaineers Remain Perfect Against Cornell
The West Virginia tennis team earned its fourth sweep of the season on Sunday, as the Mountaineers defeated Cornell, 4-0. With the win, WVU moves to 7-0 on the season. It marks the Mountaineers’ best start to a season since 1986, when WVU began the season 12-0.
Mountaineers Shine at Beauty and the Beast
A season-high score on balance beam helped the West Virginia gymnastics team sweep the competition on Sunday afternoon with a 196.0 showing in the program’s sixth Beauty and the Beast Meet held at the WVU Coliseum. Western Michigan finished second overall, Bowling Green placed third, and Towson finished in fourth.
No. 3 Mountaineers Shoot Qualifier
The #3 West Virginia rifle team shot 4706 in an NCAA Qualifying Match in Morgantown on Saturday. Saturday’s scores will be added to the Mountaineers’ ranking average and will factor into WVU’s NCAA Championships qualifying mark.
Three Mountaineers earned a win over a ranked opponent as the West Virginia wrestling team knocked off Wyoming on Saturday. The victory marks the first conference win of the season for WVU and the first win over Wyoming in program history.
Matlari Third as WVU Concludes Play at Seminole Intercollegiate
Senior Philipp Matlari earned a third-place finish, while the West Virginia golf team tied for seventh at the Seminole Intercollegiate, hosted by Florida State, on Sunday. Matlari posted four birdies and just one bogey in the final round of play to finish with a three-under 69 on the par-72 course.
Baseball drops doubleheader in South Carolina
The West Virginia baseball team fell, 14-2, at Coastal Carolina on Sunday. Next up, the Mountaineers travel to Richmond, Virginia, to take on VCU on Friday.
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Around the Big 12
Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championship Set to Begin in Morgantown
The 2020 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championship is set to begin at The Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown, West Virginia on Wednesday, February 26. The event, hosted by West Virginia for the first time in Conference history, runs through Saturday, February 29.
Bowlsby: Big 12’s opinion on one-time transfer exception coming in March
The Big 12 will not join the Big Ten or ACC in making a statement about allowing all athletes to transfer without sitting out a year — at least not until the conference athletic directors have a chance to meet next month in Kansas City during the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
3 takeaways from No. 3 Kansas’ thrilling 64-61 upset of No. 1 Baylor
In what may have been the best overall game of the 2019-20 college basketball season to date, #3 Kansas toppled #1 Baylor, 64-61, Saturday afternoon in Waco. The win was sweet revenge for a Jayhawk team that lost to the Bears at home by 12 in January.
Azubuike, Ramsey Earn Men’s Basketball Weekly Awards
Udoka Azubuike of #1 Kansas was named Big 12 Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the third time in the last five weeks, while #22 Texas Tech’s Jahmi’us Ramsey picked up his third Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honor. Azubuike was dominant in Kansas’ win at Baylor, scoring 23 points and pulling down a career-high 19 rebounds with three blocked shots.
Big 12 Announces Public Reprimand of Bruce Weber
The Big 12 Conference announces a public reprimand of Kansas State men’s basketball head coach Bruce Weber for comments regarding officiating following the conclusion of last Wednesday’s Kansas State at Texas Tech men’s basketball game.
Around the NCAA
NCAA men’s basketball rankings: Kansas retakes No. 1 spot in latest AP poll
For the first time in five weeks, a new team sits atop the AP poll as the Kansas Jayhawks vaulted to #1 after taking down Baylor. It’s Kansas’ second stint as the top-ranked team in the country. Baylor slipped just one spot to #2 with the loss.
March Madness hit women’s basketball early with 7 huge upsets
A little bit of pre-March madness took hold just about everywhere this past Sunday, when seven women’s basketball teams ranked in the AP Top 25 dropped games to unranked opponents. The Pac-12 was hit the hardest with three of its six top-25 teams taking a loss.
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The NBA MVP race is over. This is how the rest of the ballot should look
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo is clearly the NBA MVP this season. Who else is going to make the top five, though?
2020 NFL mock draft: How each team can address a major need in the 1st round
Although the NFL Draft is about adding talent, it is also about addressing team needs. Here is a look at the top needs for each team, and how those can impact the draft’s opening round.
The XFL has made a comeback, and after two weeks in the books, the league gave us a lot of exciting football. Let’s break down some of the best moments from the XFL season so far.
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