# 2016–17 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team

The 2016–17 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team represented West Virginia University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Mountaineers were coached by Bob Huggins, in his 10th season as WVU's head coach, and played their home games at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia as members of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 28–9, 12–6 in Big 12 play to finish in a three-way tie for second place. They defeated Texas and Kansas State in the Big 12 tournament before losing to Iowa State in the championship game. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Bucknell and Notre Dame before losing in the Sweet Sixteen to Gonzaga.

## Previous season

The Mountaineers finished the 2015–16 season 26–9, 13–5 in Big 12 play to finish in second place in conference. They defeated TCU and Oklahoma to advance to the championship game of the Big 12 tournament where they lost to Kansas. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where, as a No. 3 seed, they were upset in the First Round by No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Jonathan Holton | 1 | F | 6'7" | 220 | RS Senior | Miami, FL | Graduated |
| Jaysean Paige | 5 | G | 6'2" | 210 | Senior | Jamestown, NY | Graduated |
| Richard Romero III | 30 | G | 6'3" | 185 | Senior | White Sulphur Springs, WV | Graduated |
| Devin Williams | 41 | F | 6'9" | 255 | Junior | Cincinnati, OH | Declare for 2016 NBA draft |

## Recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Maciej Bender #30 PF | Warsaw, Poland | Mountain Mission School (Grundy, VA) | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | Oct 4, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Sagaba Konate #19 C | Hermitage, PA | Kennedy Catholic High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | Oct 1, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Chase Harler SG | Wheeling, WV | Wheeling Central Catholic High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Aug 3, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: Not Ranked Rivals: 23 ESPN: 20 ||||||
| 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 2016 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 24, 2016. "2016 West Virginia Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved September 24, 2016. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 24, 2016. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved September 24, 2016. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 24, 2016. ||||||

## Schedule and results

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 10/29/2016* 6:00 pm | No. 20 | vs. WVU Tech | W 131–56 | | Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center (6,630) Beckley, WV |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 7:00 pm, RTPT | No. 20 | Mount St. Mary's | W 87–59 | 1–0 | WVU Coliseum (10,510) Morgantown, WV |
| 11/14/2016* 7:00 pm, RTPT | No. 19 | Mississippi Valley State | W 107–66 | 2–0 | WVU Coliseum (7,807) Morgantown, WV |
| 11/20/2016* 1:00 pm, RTPT | No. 19 | New Hampshire NIT Season Tip-Off | W 100–41 | 3–0 | WVU Coliseum (8,842) Morgantown, WV |
| 11/24/2016* 2:30 pm, ESPNU | No. 19 | vs. Illinois NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals | W 89–57 | 4–0 | Barclays Center (2,451) Brooklyn, NY |
| 11/25/2016* 3:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 19 | vs. Temple NIT Season Tip-Off finals | L 77–81 | 4–1 | Barclays Center (3,713) Brooklyn, NY |
| 11/28/2016* 7:00 pm, RTPT | No. 25 | Manhattan NIT Season Tip-Off | W 108–61 | 5–1 | WVU Coliseum (8,190) Morgantown, WV |
| 12/03/2016* 2:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 25 | at No. 6 Virginia | W 66–57 | 6–1 | John Paul Jones Arena (14,623) Charlottesville, VA |
| 12/07/2016* 7:00 pm, RTPT | No. 15 | vs. Western Carolina | W 90–37 | 7–1 | Charleston Civic Center (8,384) Charleston, WV |
| 12/10/2016* 2:00 pm, RTPT | No. 15 | VMI | W 90–55 | 8–1 | WVU Coliseum (9,023) Morgantown, WV |
| 12/17/2016* 2:00 pm, RTPT | No. 12 | UMKC | W 112–67 | 9–1 | WVU Coliseum (8,800) Morgantown, WV |
| 12/20/2016* 7:00 pm, WOWK | No. 11 | Radford | W 84–57 | 10–1 | WVU Coliseum (8,311) Morgantown, WV |
| 12/23/2016* 4:00 pm, RTPT | No. 11 | Northern Kentucky | W 92–61 | 11–1 | WVU Coliseum (10,197) Morgantown, WV |
| 12/30/2016 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 11 | at Oklahoma State | W 95–72 | 12–1 (1–0) | Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611) Stillwater, OK |
| 01/03/2017 9:15 pm, ESPNews | No. 7 | at Texas Tech | L 76–77 $^{OT}$ | 12–2 (1–1) | United Supermarkets Arena (10,013) Lubbock, TX |
| 01/07/2017 1:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 7 | TCU | W 82–70 | 13–2 (2–1) | WVU Coliseum (12,568) Morgantown, WV |
| 01/10/2017 7:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 10 | No. 1 Baylor | W 89–68 | 14–2 (3–1) | WVU Coliseum (14,632) Morgantown, WV |
| 01/14/2017 4:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 10 | at Texas | W 74–72 | 15–2 (4–1) | Frank Erwin Center (10,751) Austin, TX |
| 01/18/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 7 | Oklahoma | L 87–89 $^{OT}$ | 15–3 (4–2) | WVU Coliseum (11,895) Morgantown, WV |
| 01/21/2017 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 7 | at Kansas State | L 75–79 | 15–4 (4–3) | Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) Manhattan, KS |
| 01/24/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 18 | No. 2 Kansas | W 85–69 | 16–4 (5–3) | WVU Coliseum (13,694) Morgantown, WV |
| 01/28/2017* 12:00 pm, ESPN | No. 18 | Texas A&M Big 12/SEC Challenge | W 81–77 | 17–4 | WVU Coliseum (12,836) Morgantown, WV |
| 01/31/2017 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 7 | at Iowa State | W 85–72 | 18–4 (6–3) | Hilton Coliseum (14,384) Ames, IA |
| 02/04/2017 5:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 7 | Oklahoma State | L 75–82 | 18–5 (6–4) | WVU Coliseum (14,225) Morgantown, WV |
| 02/08/2017 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 13 | at Oklahoma | W 61–50 | 19–5 (7–4) | Lloyd Noble Center (4,663) Norman, OK |
| 02/11/2017 12:00 pm, ESPN | No. 13 | Kansas State | W 85–66 | 20–5 (8–4) | WVU Coliseum (14,074) Morgantown, WV |
| 02/13/2017 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 9 | at No. 3 Kansas | L 80–84 $^{OT}$ | 20–6 (8–5) | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 02/18/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 9 | Texas Tech | W 83–74 $^{2OT}$ | 21–6 (9–5) | WVU Coliseum (14,150) Morgantown, WV |
| 02/20/2017 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 12 | Texas | W 77–62 | 22–6 (10–5) | WVU Coliseum (10,460) Morgantown, WV |
| 02/25/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN | No. 12 | at TCU | W 61–60 | 23–6 (11–5) | Schollmaier Arena (6,486) Fort Worth, TX |
| 02/27/2017 7:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 10 | at No. 11 Baylor | L 62–71 | 23–7 (11–6) | Ferrell Center (8,203) Waco, TX |
| 03/03/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 10 | No. 24 Iowa State | W 87–76 | 24–7 (12–6) | WVU Coliseum (14,528) Morgantown, WV |
| Big 12 Tournament ||||||
| 03/09/2017 7:00 pm, ESPNU | (2) No. 11 | vs. (10) Texas Quarterfinals | W 63–53 | 25–7 | Sprint Center (18,837) Kansas City, MO |
| 03/10/2017 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | (2) No. 11 | vs. (6) Kansas State Semifinals | W 51–50 | 26–7 | Sprint Center (18,486) Kansas City, MO |
| 03/11/2017 6:00 pm, ESPN | (2) No. 11 | vs. (4) No. 23 Iowa State Championship | L 74–80 | 26–8 | Sprint Center (18,972) Kansas City, MO |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 03/16/2017* 2:45 PM, CBS | (4 W) No. 13 | vs. (13 W) Bucknell First Round | W 86–80 | 27–8 | KeyBank Center (17,806) Buffalo, NY |
| 03/18/2017* 12:15 pm, CBS | (4 W) No. 13 | vs. (5 W) No. 14 Notre Dame Second Round | W 83–71 | 28–8 | KeyBank Center (19,261) Buffalo, NY |
| 03/23/2017* 7:39 pm, TBS | (4 W) No. 13 | vs. (1 W) No. 2 Gonzaga Sweet Sixteen | L 58–61 | 28–9 | SAP Center (16,884) San Jose, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West Region. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 20 | 19 | 19 | 25 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 18 | 7 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 13 | Not released |
| Coaches | 18 | 19 | 17 | 19 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 18 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 11 |
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings