Head coach Darian DeVries talked on Tuesday at the Battle 4 Atlantis media day ahead of the team’s matchup with No. 3 Gonzaga.
WVU is kicking off their Battle 4 Atlantis play against a 5-0 No. 3 Gonzaga team that averages 93.2 points per game and shoots 50.3% from the field and 36.3% from the three-point line.
“Great opponent, off to a terrific start they’re elite at a lot of things, very good team, very balanced team, you know it’s a tremendous challenge to try and slow them down, as people have seen as they’ve gotten out to a great start,” Darian DeVries said.
WVU is entering tournament play with a 3-1 record while averaging 77.5 points per game while shooting 45.5% from the field and 36.8% from three-point. They are coming off a dominant 43 point victory over Iona in their last game.
“The biggest thing for us is to continue to get better and continue to grow. I think we have made some big strides throughout the year, and this is a tremendous opportunity to get a feel where we’re at, but most of all, go down and compete, every possession leave it all out there,”
Gonzaga is a team that plays with a high tempo and tries to push the pace and assert their game plan early. It will be important for the Mountaineers to slow them down early.
“Yeah, they are incredibly fast, we certainly have not played anyone with this type of speed,” DeVries said.
WVU will play No. 3 Gonzaga at 2:30 pm EST on Wednesday in their Battle 4 Atlantis opener. The game will be televised on ESPN.
