Gonzaga Suffers First Loss of the Season Versus West Virginia in Overtime

A shocking loss, to say the least. West Virginia was ranked 13th out of 16 teams in the Big 12 to start the season. The Mountaineers bounced back from a 24-point loss to Pittsburgh two games ago and upset third-ranked Gonzaga in OT, 86-78. This could have been a trap game for Gonzaga as they have eighth-ranked Kentucky and second-ranked defending National Champion UConn next on their schedule. 

West Virginia used a mountain of points from senior guard Javon Small, who had 31 points. They also combined that with 19 points from sophomore forward Amani Hansberry. West Virginia used a change of pace attack and limited turnovers to beat a very good Gonzaga team. Gonzaga led at half 39-31. West Virginia turned the tide in the second half, however. It was spurred by a 17-2 run that took the air out of Gonzaga. 

Gonzaga was out-rebounded by West Virginia in this game, and it definitely helped spring the upset. West Virginia came up with some massive rebounds late to give them a shot to win. Gonzaga did lead 67-64 with 1:44 remaining in the game. However, West Virginia, like they have done all day, didn't give up and fought back to win the game. What a win by West Virginia, and to be able to fight back down five with under 30 seconds left is what a resilient team does. 

West Virginia truly looked like the better team in overtime, controlling the pace, taking good shots, and not turning it over. Gonzaga faltered late with bad fouls and sloppy play. We’ll see if this loss plagues Gonzaga for future games or if it will motivate them to play better. It will be interesting to see how Gonzaga responds to this game with two big games coming up. Gonzaga will have to learn from this early season loss and move forward. I expect them to come back with some fire next time out. Mark Few is a fantastic coach, and he'll have his team ready to play the next game.