# 2009–10 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team

The 2009–10 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team represented West Virginia University in the 2009-10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were coached by Bob Huggins and played their home games at the WVU Coliseum. The team captured the first Big East tournament championship in school history. They won the East Region to advance to the second Final Four in school history, where they lost in the national semi-finals to eventual National Champion Duke, 78–57. The team finished #3 in the final Coaches Poll with a record of 31–7, setting the record for most wins in school history.

## Preseason
### Recruiting

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Casey Mitchell SG | Savannah, GA | Chipola College (FL) | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 218 lb (99 kg) | Mar 9, 2009 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Dan Jennings PF | Staten Island, NY | St. Thomas More School (CT) | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 260 lb (120 kg) | Jul 19, 2008 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 92 ||||||
| Deniz Kılıçlı C | Istanbul, Turkey | Mountain State (WV) | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 248 lb (112 kg) | Oct 14, 2008 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 93 ||||||
| Dalton Pepper SG | Levittown, PA | Pennsbury High School (PA) | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Jul 19, 2008 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 91 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "West Virginia Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. "2009 West Virginia Basketball Commits". Scout.com. "ESPN". ESPN.com. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. "2009 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Roster

| Name | Number | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown |
| Darryl Bryant | 25 | G | 6–2 | 200 | Sophomore | Brooklyn, New York |
| Da'Sean Butler | 1 | F | 6–7 | 230 | Senior | Newark, New Jersey |
| Devin Ebanks | 3 | F | 6–9 | 215 | Sophomore | Long Island City, New York |
| John Flowers | 41 | F | 6–7 | 215 | Junior | Waldorf, Maryland |
| Danny Jennings | 30 | F | 6–8 | 260 | Freshman | Staten Island, New York |
| Kevin Jones | 5 | F | 6–8 | 230 | Sophomore | Mount Vernon, New York |
| Deniz Kılıçlı | 42 | F | 6–9 | 260 | Freshman | Istanbul, Turkey |
| Bryan Lowther | 15 | G | 6–6 | 215 | Freshman | Edinboro, Pennsylvania |
| Joe Mazzulla | 21 | G | 6–2 | 200 | Redshirt-Junior | Johnston, Rhode Island |
| Casey Mitchell | 33 | G | 6–4 | 225 | Junior | Savannah, Georgia |
| Cam Payne | 20 | G | 6–4 | 225 | Redshirt-Sophomore | Charleston, West Virginia |
| Dalton Pepper | 32 | G | 6–5 | 215 | Freshman | Levittown, Pennsylvania |
| Kenny Ross | 12 | G | 6–0 | 175 | Freshman | Furlong, Pennsylvania |
| Wellington Smith | 35 | F | 6–7 | 245 | Senior | Summit, New Jersey |
| Cam Thoroughman | 2 | F | 6–7 | 240 | Redshirt-Junior | Portsmouth, Ohio |
| Jonnie West | 4 | G | 6–3 | 195 | Redshirt-Junior | Memphis, Tennessee |

## 2009–10 Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 5, 2009* 7:00 pm | No. 8 | Charleston | W 81–48 | | WVU Coliseum Morgantown, WV |
| November 8, 2009* 1:00 pm | No. 8 | Mountain State | W 104–82 | | WVU Coliseum Morgantown, WV |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 15, 2009* 4:00 pm | No. 8 | Loyola (MD) | W 83–60 | 1–0 | WVU Coliseum (8,316) Morgantown, WV |
| November 24, 2009* 7:00 pm | No. 8 | vs. The Citadel | W 69–50 | 2–0 | Charleston Civic Center (12,348) Charleston, WV |
| November 26, 2009* 2:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 8 | vs. Long Beach State 76 Classic | W 85–62 | 3–0 | Anaheim Convention Center (2,117) Anaheim, CA |
| November 27, 2009* 2:30 pm, ESPN | No. 8 | vs. Texas A&M 76 Classic | W 73–66 | 4–0 | Anaheim Convention Center (2,067) Anaheim, CA |
| November 29, 2009* 10:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 8 | vs. Portland 76 Classic Championship Game | W 84–66 | 5–0 | Anaheim Convention Center (2,057) Anaheim, CA |
| December 9, 2009* 7:00 pm, Big East Network | No. 6 | Duquesne | W 68–39 | 6–0 | WVU Coliseum (9,835) Morgantown, WV |
| December 12, 2009* 7:00 pm, Big East Network | No. 6 | Coppin State | W 69–43 | 7–0 | WVU Coliseum (10,121) Morgantown, WV |
| December 19, 2009* 2:00 pm, Big East Network | No. 6 | at Cleveland State | W 80–78 | 8–0 | Wolstein Center (5,105) Cleveland, OH |
| December 23, 2009* 7:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 6 | No. 15 Mississippi | W 76–66 | 9–0 | WVU Coliseum (11,139) Morgantown, WV |
| December 26, 2009 3:30 pm, CBS | No. 6 | at Seton Hall | W 90–84 $^{OT}$ | 10–0 (1–0) | Prudential Center (9,800) Newark, NJ |
| December 29, 2009 7:00 pm, Big East Network | No. 6 | Marquette | W 63–62 | 11–0 (2–0) | WVU Coliseum (12,872) Morgantown, WV |
| January 1, 2010* 2:30 pm, ESPN | No. 6 | at No. 4 Purdue | L 77–62 | 11–1 (2–0) | Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN |
| January 6, 2010 7:00 pm, Big East Network | No. 8 | Rutgers | W 86–52 | 12–1 (3–0) | WVU Coliseum (9,586) Morgantown, WV |
| January 9, 2010 8:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 8 | at Notre Dame | L 70–68 | 12–2 (3–1) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| January 13, 2010 7:00 pm, Big East Network | No. 10 | at South Florida | W 69–50 | 13–2 (4–1) | USF Sun Dome (6,110) Tampa, FL |
| January 16, 2010 12:00 pm, ESPN | No. 10 | No. 5 Syracuse | L 72–71 | 13–3 (4–2) | WVU Coliseum (15,271) Morgantown, WV |
| January 20, 2010* 9:00 pm | No. 11 | vs. Marshall Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic | W 68–60 | 14–3 (4–2) | Charleston Civic Center (12,380) Charleston, WV |
| January 23, 2010* 2:00 pm, CBS | No. 11 | No. 21 Ohio State | W 71–65 | 15–3 (4–2) | WVU Coliseum (15,033) Morgantown, WV |
| January 26, 2010 8:30 pm, Big East Network | No. 9 | at DePaul | W 62–46 | 16–3 (5–2) | Allstate Arena (8,498) Rosemont, IL |
| January 30, 2010 12:00 pm, ESPN | No. 9 | Louisville | W 77–74 | 17–3 (6–2) | WVU Coliseum (12,471) Morgantown, WV |
| February 3, 2010 7:00 pm, Big East Network | No. 6 | No. 22 Pittsburgh Backyard Brawl | W 70–51 | 18–3 (7–2) | WVU Coliseum (15,419) Morgantown, WV |
| February 6, 2010 12:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 6 | at St. John's | W 79–60 | 19–3 (8–2) | Madison Square Garden (6,157) New York, NY |
| February 8, 2010 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 5 | No. 4 Villanova | L 82–75 | 19–4 (8–3) | WVU Coliseum (15,593) Morgantown, WV |
| February 12, 2010 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 5 | at No. 25 Pittsburgh Backyard Brawl | L 98–95 $^{3OT}$ | 19–5 (8–4) | Petersen Events Center (12,902) Pittsburgh, PA |
| February 17, 2010 7:00 pm, Big East Network | No. 8 | at Providence | W 88–74 | 20–5 (9–4) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (8,553) Providence, RI |
| February 20, 2010 12:00 pm, ESPN | No. 8 | Seton Hall | W 75–63 | 21–5 (10–4) | WVU Coliseum (11,816) Morgantown, WV |
| February 22, 2010 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 8 | at Connecticut | L 73–62 | 21–6 (10–5) | XL Center (15,082) Hartford, CT |
| February 27, 2010 2:00 pm, Big East Network | No. 8 | Cincinnati | W 74–68 | 22–6 (11–5) | WVU Coliseum (12,598) Morgantown, WV |
| March 1, 2010 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 10 | No. 19 Georgetown | W 81–68 | 23–6 (12–5) | WVU Coliseum (13,211) Morgantown, WV |
| March 6, 2010 12:00 pm, CBS | No. 10 | at No. 9 Villanova | W 68–66 $^{OT}$ | 24–6 (13–5) | Wachovia Center (20,225) Philadelphia, PA |
| Big East tournament ||||||
| March 11, 2010 9:30 pm, ESPN | (3) No. 7 | vs. (11) Cincinnati Quarterfinals | W 54–51 | 25–6 | Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York, NY |
| March 12, 2010 9:30 pm, ESPN | (3) No. 7 | vs. (7) Notre Dame Semifinals | W 53–51 | 26–6 | Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York, NY |
| March 13, 2010 9:00 pm, ESPN | (3) No. 7 | vs. (8) No. 22 Georgetown Championship | W 60–58 | 27–6 | Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York, NY |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 19, 2010* 12:15 pm, CBS | (2 E) No. 6 | vs. (15 E) Morgan State First Round | W 77–50 | 28–6 | HSBC Arena (18,653) Buffalo, NY |
| March 21, 2010* 2:40 pm, CBS | (2 E) No. 6 | vs. (10 E) Missouri Second Round | W 68–59 | 29–6 | HSBC Arena (18,934) Buffalo, NY |
| March 25, 2010* 7:27 pm, CBS | (2 E) No. 6 | vs. (11 E) Washington Sweet Sixteen | W 69–56 | 30–6 | Carrier Dome (22,271) Syracuse, NY |
| March 27, 2010* 7:05 pm, CBS | (2 E) No. 6 | vs. (1 E) No. 2 Kentucky Elite Eight | W 73–66 | 31–6 | Carrier Dome (22,497) Syracuse, NY |
| April 3, 2010* 8:47 pm, CBS | (2 E) No. 6 | vs. (1 S) No. 3 Duke Final Four | L 78–57 | 31–7 | Lucas Oil Stadium (71,298) Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||