After receiving a first-round bye in the Big 12 Tournament, the West Virginia Men’s basketball team was set to face off against the 16th seeded, Colorado Buffalos in the second round of the tournament. The Buffalos played upsetter in the first round of the tournament and sought to repeat the cycle against the Mountaineers.

In their hard-fought matchup, the Mountaineers realized they bit off more than they could chew as they heavily underestimated the Colorado Buffalos. The Buffalos were last in the Big 12 with a measly 3-17 record in conference play and a 14-19 overall record. So how has a team that has been historically underachieving managed to play upsetter in their first two matchups? The answer is not as simple as many may think.

The Mountaineers were led by Javon Small who had 23 points on the day, however, the Mountaineers struggled to find their points anywhere else as forward, Toby Okani was the only other Mountaineer who scored in double digits with 11 on the day. Amani Hansberry was ice cold from the field. The creative scorer shot 0-5 from the field on the day and tallied a total of 2 points in the game. The Mountaineers overall struggled with their ability to make shots as they shot 41% from the field and 67& from the foul line. West Virginia was unable to defend against the three ball or find a way through Colorado’s full-court press late in the second half.

In stark contrast to the Mountaineers, Colorado had the hot hand. Colorado went on a massive second-half run led by Elijah Malone and RJ Smith. Malone tallied 14 points on the day, the most of any Colorado player, and 12 of those points came in the second half alone. Rj Smith tallied 13 points of his own to help lead the Buffalos past the Mountaineers in a 67-60 victory. The Buffalos made seven of their last nine field goals and shot 45% from the field. The Buffalo’s ability to hit clutch three pointers and make their free throws towards the end of the game is what allowed them to beat the tournament hopeful Mountaineers.

After the upset, the Mountaineer faithful are concerned about whether West Virginia will be seeded in the NCAA Tournament or if their team will make the tournament at all. Before the Big 12 Tournament, many sources projected West Virginia to be a lock for the nine or ten seed in the tournament. Some notable opponent predictions were teams such as UCLA and Memphis, both of which would be a challenge for any program to take down. However, after their upset loss at the hands of Colorado, it is predicted that West Virginia could possibly drop from that nine or ten-seed range.

The selection committee has until Sunday to make up their mind about whether they place West Virginia in the tournament or not. The Mountaineers were considered a lock for the tournament to close out their regular season, however, a loss at the hands of Colorado could play spoiler to those dreams. At the end of the day, the Mountaineers are at the mercy of the selection committee, and fans will find out on Sunday whether or not the Mountaineers were able to make their way in or if they have to find their way out the door.