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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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Football
Six Home Games, Including Virginia Tech, Highlight 2021 Football Schedule
The 2021 West Virginia football schedule has been announced. The schedule features six home games and six road games, and will begin on September 4th. The home games include nonconference matchups against Virginia Tech and Long Island, and conference games against Texas Tech, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, and Texas. The away games will be at Maryland, Oklahoma, Baylor, Texas Christian, Kansas State, and Kansas.
Lesley promoted to defensive coordinator
West Virginia head coach Neal Brown announced Friday that defensive line coach Jordan Lesley will be promoted to defensive coordinator for the 2021 season. Along with this promotion, Lesley will move to coach the outside linebackers. Lesley has been the defensive line coach for the past three years.
Brown Announces Defensive Coaching Staff Assignments
West Virginia football coach Neal Brown has announced the defensive coaching staff assignments. ShaDon Brown will be the co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. Jeff Koonz will continue as the special teams coordinator/inside linebackers coach, while first-year assistant coach Andrew Jackson will be the Mountaineers’ defensive line coach.
Dreshun Miller announces intent to transfer
Cornerback Dreshun Miller is moving on from West Virginia after announcing his entrance into the transfer portal on Thursday.
Men’s Basketball
McNeil Earns Big 12 Co-Player of the Week Honors
West Virginia shooting guard Sean McNeil shared the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Player of the Week award with Oklahoma’s Austin Reaves this week. McNeil averaged 23.5 points for WVU in a 1-1 week against top 25 opponents. He had a career-high 26 points in the win at #7 Texas Tech and followed that with 21 points against #12 Oklahoma. The junior guard also hit five three-point field goals in each game. This was the first time that McNeil won the honor during his career with the Mountaineers.
AP poll roundup: WVU hoops jumps to No. 13
The West Virginia men’s basketball team has moved up one spot this week in the Associated Press Top 25. After a 1-1 week that included an upset at Texas Tech and a double-overtime loss to Oklahoma, the Mountaineers check in at #13 in the latest ranking. Undefeated Baylor remains in the #2 spot for another week, while OU is ranked #9 and Texas is #12. The Red Raiders fell to #15 and Kansas moved back into the ranking at #23.
Oklahoma prevails in double overtime thriller, WVU’s 3-game win streak ends
In a game played with the tightest of margins through two overtimes, between two teams that appeared as #3 seeds in Saturday’s official NCAA Tournament top 16 list, #9 Oklahoma found their way past #13 West Virginia, 91-90 at the WVU Coliseum. The Mountaineers are scheduled to return to action on Saturday at #12 Texas.
Huggins after OU loss: ‘We have to play with an edge, and we didn’t.’
The #13 West Virginia men’s basketball team was in a heavyweight bout with #9 Oklahoma that took two overtimes before the Sooners earned a 91-90 victory. WVU head coach Bob Huggins blamed a lack of concentration for the miscues during the game. After the game, Huggins also said, “We have to play with an edge, and we didn’t.”
The Big 12 Conference has announced that the West Virginia men’s basketball team will face Baylor on Thursday, February 25th, in Waco, Texas. The game was previously scheduled for Thursday, February 18th. The start time and television information will be announced when finalized.
Three Guys Before The Game – Have Team … Will Play (Episode 270)
On this episode of “Three Guys Before The Game,” the guys explain why #9 Oklahoma’s refusal to double-team Derek Culver allowed them to win Saturday’s game versus #13 West Virginia.
Women’s Basketball
West Virginia stunned by Oklahoma, ends 11-game winning streak
On Saturday night, the #19 West Virginia women’s basketball team was upset by Oklahoma, 72-71, ending its 11-game winning streak. Towards the end of the third quarter, it was looking like the Mountaineers would extend their winning streak to a program-high of 12 games. WVU was up 12 with seconds to go in the third quarter. From that point on, everything went downhill.
Mountaineers Remain No. 19 in AP Poll
The West Virginia women’s basketball team remained #19 in the latest Associated Press Top-25 Poll. WVU is one of two Big 12 teams featured in the poll, with Baylor at #7. The Mountaineers will face the Bears on Wednesday in Waco, Texas. The big-time conference matchup will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET.
Carey following OU loss: ‘We have veterans, I’m sure it’ll take a day to get this game behind us’
The West Virginia women’s basketball team suffered its first loss since December 18th after a meltdown in the fourth quarter that led to a 72-71 loss to Oklahoma. After the game, WVU head coach Mike Carey discussed how he had been warning his team that they needed to make sure they were doing the little things to win games.
WVU women’s basketball games rescheduled
The West Virginia women’s basketball team was originally set to face Kansas on January 2nd, but that game has been rescheduled for February 27th in Lawrence. WVU’s game against Kansas State originally scheduled for January 5th will now be played on March 3rd in Manhattan.
Gymnastics
Mountaineers Maintain Rankings
Following a season-best 49.200 showing on floor exercise on Feb. 11, the West Virginia gymnastics team’s floor lineup continues to rank #20 in this week’s Road to Nationals Rankings. WVU sits just outside the top 25 on balance beam, tied at #28 nationally. The Mountaineers are also tied at #33 on vault and they continue to rank #35 on uneven bars. As a team, WVU is ranked #30 for the third straight week.
Mountaineers lose close match to No. 7 Denver
The #30 West Virginia gymnastics team lost to #7 Denver, 195.400- 196.375 in a tightly contested matchup. DU came out on top in all four events, vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. The Mountaineers get another chance at Denver on February 21st.
Pierson Named WVU Student-Athlete of the Week
Following a season-best 9.9 total on floor exercise, sophomore Abbie Pierson of the West Virginia gymnastics team has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week.
West Virginia Athletics
No. 4 West Virginia rifle loses to No. 2 Kentucky in regular season finale
The #4 West Virginia rifle team dropped its final match of the regular season on Saturday against #2 Kentucky by a score of 4723-4717. WVU beat UK in the air rifle portion of the event 2384-2379, but that was not enough to overcome the deficit in the smallbore portion as the Wildcats outscored the Mountaineers 2344-2333. This is the second season in a row that UK gave WVU its one and only loss of the regular season.
WVU golf finishes 18th at Gators Invitational
The West Virginia golf team opened up its spring season over the weekend with a strong showing at the Gators Invitational, scoring eight over par and placing 18th. Junior Kurtis Grant scored the low round of the tournament for the Mountaineers, shooting two under par 68 in the first round of the tournament on Friday.
Deep and Talented Mountaineer Baseball Team Readies For Stacked Year of College Baseball
How can a team ranked in all of this year’s preseason polls, including 14th in one, only get enough votes to place sixth in its own preseason conference poll? That was a question posed to West Virginia’s Randy Mazey last week about his Mountaineers, recently selected to finish sixth in the Big 12.
WVU Completes Cowboy Challenge
The West Virginia wrestling team completed the 2021 Cowboy Challenge in Stillwater, Oklahoma, with three runner-up finishes on Sunday.
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Around the Big 12
Jones scores 19 to lead No, 13 Texas over TCU 70-55
Andrew Jones led #13 Texas to a Big 12 win over Texas Christian on Saturday. Jones led the Longhorns with 19 points. Matt Coleman III added 15 points, while Texas forward Jericho Sims had 11 points and eight rebounds. Junior guard RJ Nembhard led TCU with 15 points and seven rebounds.
Cunningham’s 15 lead No. 23 Oklahoma St. past Kansas St.
Cade Cunningham, the freshman guard who leads the Big 12 Conference in scoring, had 15 points to help #23 Oklahoma State defeat Kansas State 67-60 on Saturday.
Around the NCAA
Back from layoff, No. 3 Michigan tops No. 21 Wisconsin 67-59
Isaiah Livers scored 20 points, while Hunter Dickinson had 11 points and 15 rebounds, to help #3 Michigan rally from a 14-point deficit to beat # 21 Wisconsin 67-59 on Sunday. The Wolverines had not played since a 70-53 victory at Purdue on January 22nd.
No. 16 Florida St routs No. 7 Virginia 81-60 in ACC showdown
M.J. Walker scored 17 points and #16 Florida State built a big first-half lead, beating #7 Virginia 81-60 on Monday night in a showdown between the top two teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
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Michael McDowell wins rain-delayed Daytona 500 after last-lap wreck
On the final lap of the Daytona 500, Brad Keselowski attempted to dart around Joey Logano, but Logano threw a block on his teammate that crashed them both. Michael McDowell stayed right where he was, flat in the gas, and drove through a crash scene for a stunning upset.
NBA Power Rankings: Utah Jazz top the charts, Kevin Durant wins in the Bay Area
Not much can stop the Utah Jazz right now. The owners of the best record in the NBA have won 18 of their past 19 games to put them ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference. The Philadelphia 76ers are leading the way in the Eastern Conference.
Clash of the GOATs: Why Wayne Gretzky is the greatest team sports player ever — not Tom Brady
Many people are saying that Tom Brady is the GOAT of team sports, but there is an argument to be made that Wayne Gretzky is actually the GOAT of team sports.
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