MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (April 29, 2019) – West Virginia University Director of Athletics Shane Lyons has announced the 2019-20 men’s basketball non-conference schedule.
The non-conference schedule will feature seven games at the WVU Coliseum and six games away from home, including three within a short driving distance of Morgantown.
WVU will open the regular season at home on Friday, Nov. 8against Akron. The Zips will make their first appearance in Morgantown since 2011.
One week later, the Mountaineers will travel to Pitt for the Backyard Brawl on Friday, Nov. 15. The two teams will meet for the 187th time with WVU winning the last three meetings.
West Virginia will have four games in the Cancun Challenge with the first two being in Morgantown against Northern Colorado (Nov. 18) and Boston University (Nov. 22). Both teams will make their first visits to Morgantown. WVU will travel to Riviera Maya, Mexico, on Nov. 26 to face Northern Iowa followed by the final game of the tournament a day later against either South Carolina or Wichita State.
Rhode Island, a former Atlantic 10 Conference foe, will travel to WVU on Dec. 1 for the first time since 2004. WVU will travel to New York and meet former BIG EAST foe St. John’s on either Dec. 7 or 8 in the first Big 12/BIG EAST Scheduling Alliance.
A pair of first-time opponents — Austin Peay on Dec. 12 and Nicholls State on Dec. 14 — will visit Morgantown in mid-December.
WVU will end December by playing Youngstown State off-campus at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio, in the second game of a three-game series on Dec. 21. Then on Dec. 29, West Virginia and Ohio State will meet for the first time on a neutral court at the Cleveland Classic at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.
The Mountaineers will close non-conference play on Saturday, Jan. 25, at home with an opponent to be determined in the annual Big 12/SEC Challenge.
“We are excited once again about this year’s non-conference schedule as it has a mixture of teams that Mountaineer fans are familiar with along with a group of first-time opponents,” coach Bob Huggins said. “We played the 11th-toughest schedule in the country last season, and this year will be no different.”
West Virginia will play one exhibition game, which will be announced at a later date. Big 12 Conference play is scheduled to begin in January this season.
Friday Nov. 8 Akron Morgantown, W.Va.
Friday Nov. 15 at Pitt Pittsburgh, Pa.
Monday Nov. 18 Northern Colorado # Morgantown, W.Va.
Friday Nov. 22 Boston University # Morgantown, W.Va.
Tuesday Nov. 26 vs. Northern Iowa # Riviera Maya, Mexico
Wednesday Nov. 27 vs. South Carolina or Wichita State # Riviera Maya, Mexico
Sunday Dec. 1 Rhode Island Morgantown, W.Va.
Sat./Sun. Dec. 7 or 8 at St. John’s ^ New York, N.Y.
Thursday Dec. 12 Austin Peay Morgantown, W.Va.
Saturday Dec. 14 Nicholls State Morgantown, W.Va.
Saturday Dec. 21 vs. Youngstown State & Youngstown, Ohio
Sunday Dec. 29 vs. Ohio State $ Cleveland, Ohio
Saturday Jan. 25 Big 12/SEC Challenge Morgantown, W.Va.
# Cancun Challenge
^ Big 12/BIG EAST Scheduling Alliance
& Covelli Centre, Youngstown, Ohio
$ Cleveland Classic
– All Dates Subject to Change
Photo Credit: Shanna Rose, BGS
Press Release Credit: WVU Athletics Communications
