Battle 4 Atlantis Preview: Louisville vs. West Virginia

Louisville Cardinals (4-1) vs. West Virginia Mountaineers (4-1)

Battle 4 Atlantis Semifinals

Playing time: Midday

Location: Imperial Arena: Paradise Island, Bahamas

TV: ESPN

Announcer: Beth Mowins (play-by-play) and Debbie Antonelli (analyst)

Favorite: Louisville at 2

Series: Louisville leads 9-4

Last meeting: Louisville won 77-74 on February 11, 2012 in Morgantown, WV

Series history:

Expected starting lineups:

Louisville

• G Chucky Hepburn (6-2, 190, Sr.)
• G J’Vonne Hadley (6-6, 215, 5th)
• G/F Terrence Edwards Jr. (6-6, 205, 5th)
• F Noah Waterman (6-11, 230, 6th)
• F Kasean Pryor (6-10, 225, Sr.)

West Virginia

• G Sencire Harris (6-4, 174, Sun.)
• G Tucker DeVries (6-7, 220, Sr.)
• G Javon Small (6-3, 190, Sr)
• G Toby Okani (6-8, 210, Sr.)
• F Amani Hansberry (6-8, 240, Sun.)

Statistics:

Relevant videos:

Season so far in West Virginia:

About West Virginia:

West Virginia shocked the college basketball world and turned the Battle 4 Atlantis on its head Wednesday afternoon when it stunned No. 3 Gonzaga by eight (86-78) in overtime.

Led by first-year head coach Darian DeVries, who came to Morgantown after six successful seasons at Drake, where he went 150-55 and led the Bulldogs to three NCAA Tournaments. – The Mountaineers arrived in the Bahamas with modest expectations for the 2024-25 season. Still feeling the aftereffects of Bob Huggins’ sudden firing before the start of last season, WVU was picked to finish 13th out of 16 teams in the Big 12’s preseason media poll.

Those expectations seemed understandable after West Virginia got past UMass on Nov. 8 and was defeated by Pittsburgh, 86-62, a week later. Then Wednesday happened.

As a 14.5-point underdog, WVU was able to overcome a 10-point deficit in the second half and force overtime as a star Tucker DeVriesthe coach’s son, made a clutch steal with 5.9 seconds left and shot two free throws. The Mountaineers controlled the action in the extra frame thanks to the play of DeVries and Javon Smallwho scored 31 points.

Like Pat Kelsey, Darian DeVries immediately went into rebuild mode when he got the WVU job. He only brought back forward Ofri Naveh from last year’s team and added 12 new scholarship recipients.

Chief among the newcomers was his son Tucker, who was a two-time Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. At 6’3″ tall and with a solid frame, DeVries is one of the better offensive players Louisville will face this season. He has enormous range and is an accurate shooter from deep, both when jumping off and falling from screens. He’s a capable shot maker himself and playmaker for others, but his defense against elite competition is questionable.

Small was Oklahoma State’s leading scorer and a complement that DeVries needed to have if he wanted to be competitive in his first season in the Big 12. The 6-foot-3 fifth-year point guard was a statistician throughout his college career. He currently leads WVU in scoring (15.0 points per game), assists (4.0 points per game), steals (3.0 points per game) and three-point field goal percentage (43. 5%).

One player Louisville likely won’t see on Thursday is Jayden Stonewho averaged 20.8 ppg last season at Detroit-Mercy. He hasn’t appeared on the floor yet this season due to “never-ending injuries,” and Darian DeVries described his status as “everyday” entering the tournament.

Illinois transfer Amani Hansberry is an undersized five at 6’3″, but his versatility on offense makes him a difficult opponent for most bigs. He’ll shoot the three-pointer if he stays open, but even after a 3-for-8 performance from deep on Wednesday, that’s a shot Louisville would probably rather see him attempt than one at the rim. He is by far the team’s best defender and the only really consistent center back, despite being 6’3″. Eduardo Andre is a capable reserve.

West Virginia’s statistical profile is essentially “good, not great” across the board. Like Louisville, they hit the three per ton (more than all but 15 teams in the country) and hit a respectable 35.5 percent rate (109th in the country). They’re good, but not great at arc – 121st in the country. They’re good, but not great at getting to the free throw line – 175th in the country. And they’re good, if not great, at taking care of the basketball – they rank 147th nationally in turnover percentage.

Although West Virginia isn’t particularly big, interior defense has been the area where West Virginia has been strongest this season. They rank 8th nationally in block percentage and 9th in 2-point defense. These numbers make it even stranger that they have been an average rebounding team at best.

So far this season, West Virginia has largely performed as well as Small and DeVries. Pitt was the only team that could contain the high-scoring duo, and the Panthers walked away with a 24-point win.

One notable thing Louisville should have in this game is additional composure and superior depth. West Virginia played later on Wednesday, they had to play five minutes of overtime and used their bench less than the Cardinals. Three different Mountaineers – Small, DeVries and Sophomore Guard Sencire Harris (another transfer from Illinois) – all played 42 minutes in the win over Gonzaga. Only three WVU players came off the bench, and only one of them was a talented freshman Jonathan PowellHe played more than eight minutes.

Notable:

—Louisville has had 31 regular-season tournament championships in its history. The Cardinals had lost five straight regular-season tournament games before Wednesday’s win over Indiana.

—Louisville has a 7-2 record in Battle 4 Atlantis and is 5-2 in tournament play in the Bahamas. The Cardinals made it to the championship game in their two previous appearances: U of L lost to Duke in the 2012 title game and lost to Baylor in the 2016 title game.

– Louisville has 11 players who were on teams that played in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The squad has made a total of 14 NCAA Division I Tournament appearances at its previous schools and has played in 20 NCAA Tournament games over the course of its career.

– Against Indiana, Louisville’s 23 assists were its most since 23 in a 90-66 win over Syracuse on Feb. 19, 2020. It is 15 steals, its most since 15 in a 77-54 win over Georgia Tech on Feb. 8, 2018.

– West Virginia is 45-16 in regular season tournament play since 2007.

– This is the Mountaineers’ first appearance in The Battle 4 Atlantis and their first regular season games ever in the Bahamas.

–Louisville is 2-0 all-time in neutral games against West Virginia.

– West Virginia is the only team in the country to have two players on the same team who averaged more than 20 points per game last season – Tucker DeVries (21.6 ppg) and Jayden Stone (20.8 ppg).

– Before the overtime win over No. 3 Gonzaga, WVU had lost six straight overtime games.

– West Virginia has a 202-55 record against non-conference opponents in regular season games over the last 21 seasons.

– WVU has won 158 of its last 179 and 214 of its last 242 games while holding its opponents to fewer than 69 points.

– West Virginia is 10-2 all-time in games played Nov. 28.

—West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries’ teams are 71-2 when they score 80 or more points and 135-16 when they score 70 or more points.

– Louisville has a 255-80 record against non-conference opponents over the last 23 seasons (including postseason).

– The winner of the Battle 4 Atlantis has won the NCAA Championship twice: the Villanova Wildcats in 2017-18 and the Virginia Cavaliers in 2018-19.

—Louisville has a 222-15 record over the last 21 seasons and is 3-0 this season when scoring 80 points or more.

– Louisville has a 14-0 record over the last 10 seasons when limiting opponents to no more than a three-point field goal.

– Since 2004, Louisville is 130-0 when leading by more than 10 points at halftime.

–Louisville has a 115-0 all-time record when scoring 100 or more points in non-overtime games.

—Louisville has won 163 consecutive games while holding an opponent under 50 points.

Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Louisville 75, West Virginia 72