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West Virginia would like to build on the momentum of its last game and prove its worthy of a Top 25 ranking. North Carolina State wants to quickly forget its last contest.
The unbeaten Mountaineers will try to match their best start in 45 years as they visit the 17th-ranked Wolfpack on Sunday.
West Virginia (9-0) has opened a season with nine straight victories for the first time since 1959, when Hall of Famer Jerry West led the Mountaineers to a 10-0 start and the final of the NCAA tournament.
Mike Gansey scored 19 points and D'or Fischer added 15 to lead the Mountaineers to a 71-65 victory over No. 20 George Washington on Wednesday night. It was West Virginia's first home win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 22 Pittsburgh in 1989.
"We knew this was a GW club that was for real and they were going to come after us," West Virginia coach John Beilein said. "But the way we came out in the second half I thought was the difference in the game."
The Mountaineers shot 45 percent (22-of-49) and used a smothering defense to hold George Washington to 39 percent. Gansey, a 6-foot-4 junior averaging 12.4 points per game, made 7 of 12 shots. The 6-11 Fischer hit four free throws and a dunk during the last 90 seconds, and West Virginia made 9 of 12 free throws down the stretch.
"If they don't want to put us in the Top 25, that is up to them," Gansey said. "I think we have proven we are a good team. We just beat a Top 20 team. I think we are one of the better teams in the country."
North Carolina State (10-2) comes off a miserable performance as it shot just 20 percent (13-of-65) in Thursday's 63-45 loss to St. John's in the championship game of the Holiday Festival.
What was supposed to be a triumphant homecoming for Julius Hodge turned into a nightmare. Hodge, the reigning Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year and a former New York City high school star, went 0-for-6 from the field in the first half and missed two more shots before getting his first field goal on a dunk with 11:13 to go.
The Wolfpack shot 13 percent in the first half (3-for-23) and trailed 27-10 at halftime.
"We were horrible," North Carolina State coach Herb Sendek said. "I don't know what we could point to as having done well. We were absolutely horrendous."
Three Wolfpack starters - Levi Watkins, Jordan Collins and Tony Bethel - were held scoreless. N.C. State entered the contest averaging 80.9 points per game. Ilian Evtimov, one of the Wolfpack's most dependable reserves, was 0-for-5 and had two turnovers in 20 minutes.
"It's going to show our character," Evtimov said about trying to rebound from the loss to St. John's. "We're going to play a very good team. They're undefeated and just beat George Washington. They'll probably be ranked next week. We better come to play or the same scenario is going to happen on Sunday. We've got to play together and as a team."
