MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia has too often found itself needing second-half comebacks to have a chance down the stretch against competition within the Big 12 Conference.
In Saturday’s contest against 19th-ranked BYU at Hope Coliseum, it was a role reversal for the Mountaineers.
West Virginia built a 14-point halftime lead that was cut to seven less than 2 minutes into the second half. Yet the Mountaineers maintained their composure and consistently scored in the closing minutes to fend off the Cougars for a 79-71 victory.
“I told the guys in the locker room I really felt today was a byproduct of the last 72 hours,” WVU head coach Ross Hodge said. “Handle disappointment in the same manner they handle success. Learn from it and not run from it.“
The Mountaineers (17-12, 8-8) led by three with inside 1 minute remaining and the Cougars came up with a steal that put them in position to tie or draw closer. But only three seconds after BYU (20-9, 8-8) gained possession, Chance Moore sprinted back on defense and forced a Keba Keita turnover.
“That play was symbolic of this team to keep playing, and that was about as big of a keep playing moment as you can have,” Hodge said.
Brenen Lorient’s offensive rebound off an Honor Huff missed shot allowed Huff to make the first of two free throws with 26 seconds remaining, and Lorient’s block of an AJ Dybansta three-point attempt on the next trip gave the ball back to WVU, which sealed the verdict when Jasper Floyd made two free throws for a six-point advantage with 15 seconds.
“I was strapped in on trying to get a stop. It was a crucial moment,” Lorient said. “I saw him slide out and knew he wanted to get something up at the three-point line. I just contested it and blocked the shot.”
The Mountaineers were able to play with a lead for the final 26:41 after outscoring BYU, 20-4, over the final 6:41 of the first half.
Freshman DJ Thomas’ conventional three-point play allowed the Mountaineers to lead 23-22, and Huff ran off the next five points to up the advantage to six.
Thomas made three-pointers on successive possessions to stretch the advantage to 34-24, then added a dunk in the paint to give his team a lead of a dozen.
“DJ was tremendous in the first half,” Hodge said, “and it was kind of one of those baton games where it kept getting passed to other people in big spots for big stretches.”
In holding a 40-26 halftime advantage, WVU had its largest lead at the break in Big 12 play this season. The Mountaineers have led at halftime in only four of 16 Big 12 games, and on Saturday, it came about despite Treysen Eaglestaff and Lorient combining to shoot 1 for 10 through the opening 20 minutes.
But Thomas (11), Floyd (9) and Huff (8) led the way offensively at the break, while the Cougars had eight field goals, nine turnovers and had been outscored 9-0 on second-chance points after recording only two of the game’s 10 offensive rebounds to that point.
“Our decision-making, driving into crowds, turning the ball over and not getting shots on goal, and the defensive intensity was abysmal in the first half,” BYU head coach Kevin Young said. “Those two factors got us off to that start.”
Young’s displeasure was felt and the Cougars scored the first seven points of the second half, pulling to within 40-33 on an Aeksej Kostic triple.
Eaglestaff’s three out of a timeout marked the mountaineers’ first points of the second half, and WVU maintained its separation for much of what remained, including a 58-45 lead after Huff made two foul shots with 9:54 left.
“We knew they were going to make a run,” Huff said. “Weathering that storm, we’ve shown we can do, and I’m glad we did that today.”
The Cougars didn’t go quietly though, displaying the offensive prowess the rest of the way that’s led to much of their success this season.
BYU trailed 60-51 before scoring on six consecutive possessions, the last of which was Keita’s conventional three-point play that brought the visitors to within 71-66 at the 3-minute mark.
Dybansta’s trey with 2:12 left made it a one-possession game at 72-69, before Lorient drove to the basket out of a timeout for a pivotal bucket 35 seconds later.
“Offensively, [our execution] was fine,” Young said. “Defensively, it was a disaster.”
Important basket from Brenen Lorient out of a timeout that gave West Virginia a 74-69 lead in its 79-71 win against No. 19 BYU. pic.twitter.com/jU5oK7FOAi
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) March 1, 2026
The Cougars never got closer than three the rest of the way in what marked their third loss in four games without Richie Saunders and seventh setback in their last 10.
BYU guard Robert Wright III led all players with 23 points. Dybnasta scored 20, including 16 in the second half.
Kostic made four threes to score 12 points.
Huff led WVU with 19 points and Lorient followed with 18, all but four of which came after halftime.
“It’s definitely tough when you miss a couple early ones, but usually when I don’t get easy ones to go in early, I focus on doing the little things better like rebounding and getting stops on defense,” Lorient said. “That’s my main focus during those times.”
Thomas (13), Floyd (11) and Moore (11) also scored in double figures.
Lorient led all players with nine rebounds and Moore added eight. That duo was pivotal in WVU holding a 39-29 rebounding advantage, including 18-8 on the offensive end. Seven of Lorient’s nine rebounds came on the offensive end.
“That’s why we lost. They had 18 offensive rebounds,” Young said. “We’re usually really good and one of the best teams in the conference with that. They only turned those into 15 second-chance points, but every time we got close, it felt like they got an offensive rebound. You hold their two top guys [Huff and Eaglestaff] to 6 for 23 shooting, and most nights they’ll have a hard time winning. Lorient, Moore and Thomas were men out there and kicked out butt. Credit to them.”