MORGANTOWN—The West Virginia University (WVU) Mountaineers wrapped up their participation in the Phil Knight Legacy (PKL) tournament on Sunday, Nov 27 with an 84-55 win over the Florida Gators.

The Mountaineers won two out of three of their matchups in the tournament. WVU also collected an 89-71 win against Portland State. WVU only loss during the PKL tournament came to a very good Purdue team. 

Purdue went 3-0 during the PKL tournament and had three really impressive wins during the tournament. Purdue knocked off not only the WVU Mountaineers but also the #8 ranked Duke Blue Devils and the #6 Gonzaga Bulldogs.

The Mountaineers looked very impressive in their loss against Purdue. Keeping the game within reach the entire game, going down by double-digits at some points but battling back keeping the score within striking range. 

Looking ahead for the Mountaineers, they look to return to action on Saturday, Dec 3 in Cincinnati matching up against the Xavier Musketeers in the Big East-Big 12 Battle. WVU looks to improve 7-1 picking up a win on the road against Xavier. 

Leading the way for WVU so far is South Carolina transfer guard Erik Stevenson averaging 14.2 points per game. WVU also seeing nice contribution from Texas transfer forward Tre Mitchell. Mitchell is averaging 12.6 points per game through the seven games so far this season.

WVU seems to be jelling well with several new transfers coming into the program for the 2022-2023 season. WVU added a lot of transfers including Tre Mitchell (Texas), Erik Stevenson (South Carolina), Joe Toussaint (Iowa), Mohamed Wague (JUCO), Jimmy Bell Jr. (JUCO), and a very familiar name for Mountaineer fans Emmitt Matthews Jr. (Washington). 

After WVU concludes nonconference games against; Xavier, Navy, UAB, Buffalo, and Stony Brook, WVU opens up Big 12 conference play on Saturday, Dec 31. WVU will participate in the SEC-Big 12 challenge against Auburn on Saturday, Jan 28. 

Playing in a tough Big 12 conference, the Mountaineers will have a tough conference schedule to really see what they are made of this season.