2008–09 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team

The 2008–09 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team represented West Virginia University in the 2008-09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by Bob Huggins and played their home games in the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia.

2008–09 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Round of 64
Conference	Big East Conference|Big East
Record	23–12 (10–8 Big East)
Head coach	Bob Huggins
Assistant coaches	Billy Hahn Larry Harrison Erik Martin
Home arena	WVU Coliseum

2008–09 Big East men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 1 Louisville†	16	–	2		.889			31	–	6		.838
No. 4 Pittsburgh	15	–	3		.833			31	–	5		.861
No. 5 Connecticut	15	–	3		.833			31	–	5		.861
No. 11 Villanova	13	–	5		.722			30	–	8		.789
No. 23 Marquette	12	–	6		.667			25	–	10		.714
No. 13 Syracuse	11	–	7		.611			28	–	10		.737
West Virginia	10	–	8		.556			23	–	12		.657
Providence	10	–	8		.556			19	–	14		.576
Notre Dame	8	–	10		.444			21	–	15		.583
Cincinnati	8	–	10		.444			18	–	14		.563
Seton Hall	7	–	11		.389			17	–	15		.531
Georgetown	7	–	11		.389			16	–	15		.516
St. John's	6	–	12		.333			16	–	18		.471
South Florida	4	–	14		.222			9	–	22		.290
Rutgers	2	–	16		.111			11	–	21		.344
DePaul	0	–	18		.000			9	–	24		.273
† 2009 Big East tournament winner As of April 4, 2009 Rankings from AP Poll

Pre-season

During the offseason, the Mountaineers picked up four recruits who look to make an immediate impact in Morgantown. Devin Ebanks a 6–9, 205 pound forward from Oakdale, CT seems to be the Mountaineers #1 recruit, being ranked #11 on the Rivals.com Top 150 recruits. The Mountaineers also added Darryl "Truck" Bryant, a 6-2 190 pound guard from Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Jones, a 6-7 210 pound forward from Mount Vernon, NY, and Dee Proby a 6-9 250 pound forward from Angelina College in Lufkin, TX. West Virginia was picked to finish 9th in the Big East Pre-Season Coaches Poll.

Roster

Name	Number	Position	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
Darryl Bryant	25	G	6-2	200	Freshman	Brooklyn, New York
Da'Sean Butler	1	F	6-7	225	Junior	Newark, New Jersey
Devin Ebanks	3	F	6-9	205	Freshman	Long Island City, New York
John Flowers	41	F	6-7	203	Sophomore	Waldorf, Maryland
Kevin Jones	5	F	6-8	230	Freshman	Mount Vernon, New York
Joe Mazzulla	21	G	6-2	205	Junior	Johnston, Rhode Island
Cameron Payne	33	G	6-4	215	Redshirt-Freshman	Charleston, West Virginia
Dee Proby	45	F	6-10	240	Junior	Round Rock, Texas
Alex Ruoff	22	G	6-6	220	Senior	Spring Hill, Florida
Wellington Smith	35	F	6-7	230	Junior	Summit, New Jersey
Josh Sowards	20	F	6-7	215	Redshirt-Junior	Scott Depot, West Virginia
Will Thomas	24	G	6-5	215	Sophomore	East Cleveland, Ohio
Cam Thoroughman	2	F	6-7	225	Redshirt-Sophomore	Portsmouth, Ohio
Jonnie West	4	G	6-3	187	Redshirt-Sophomore	Memphis, Tennessee

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular Season
November 15, 2008* 7:00 pm		Elon	W 92–47	1–0	WVU Coliseum (10,250) Morgantown, WV
November 20, 2008* 7:00 pm		Longwood	W 86–54	2–0	WVU Coliseum (6,917) Morgantown, WV
November 25, 2008* 7:00 pm		vs. Delaware State Las Vegas Invitational	W 76–42	3–0	Charleston Civic Center (10,434) Charleston, WV
November 28, 2008* 9:00 pm, ESPN360		vs. Iowa Las Vegas Invitational	W 87–68	4–0	Orleans Arena (5,000) Las Vegas, NV
November 29, 2008* 10:30 pm, ESPN2		vs. Kentucky Las Vegas Invitational Championship Game	L 43–54	4–1	Orleans Arena (5,500) Las Vegas, NV
December 3, 2008* 9:00 pm, ESPN360		at Mississippi	W 80–78	5–1	Tad Smith Coliseum (6,787) Oxford, MS
December 6, 2008* 1:00 pm		Cleveland State	W 53–43	6–1	WVU Coliseum (8,765) Morgantown, WV
December 9, 2008* 7:00 pm, ESPN		vs. No. 23 Davidson Jimmy V Classic	L 65–68	6–2	Madison Square Garden (14,675) New York, NY
December 13, 2008* 7:00 pm		Duquesne	W 68–63	7–2	A.J. Palumbo Center (3,487) Pittsburgh, PA
December 20, 2008* 12:00 pm, ESPNU		Miami (OH)	W 82–46	8–2	WVU Coliseum (8,980) Morgantown, WV
December 23, 2008* 7:00 pm		Radford	W 89–54	9–2	WVU Coliseum (7,064) Morgantown, WV
December 27, 2008* 4:00 pm, CBS		at No. 15 Ohio State	W 76–48	10–2	Value City Arena (19,049) Columbus, OH
January 3, 2009 4:00 pm, ESPN360		at Seton Hall	W 92–66	11–2 (1–0)	Prudential Center (8,127) Newark, NJ
January 6, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 25	No. 5 Connecticut	L 55–61	11–3 (1–1)	WVU Coliseum (13,920) Morgantown, WV
January 10, 2009 12:00 pm, ESPN360	No. 25	at No. 18 Marquette	L 53–75	11–4 (1–2)	Bradley Center (17,085) Milwaukee, WI
January 14, 2009* 1:00 pm		vs. Marshall Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic	W 87–76	12–4	Charleston Civic Center (12,580) Charleston, WV
January 17, 2009 12:00 pm, ESPN360		South Florida	W 62–59	13–4 (2–2)	WVU Coliseum (11,037) Morgantown, WV
January 22, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN		at No. 12 Georgetown	W 75–58	14–4 (3–2)	Verizon Center (12,875) Washington, D.C.
January 25, 2009 4:00 pm, ESPN360		No. 4 Pittsburgh Backyard Brawl	L 67–79	14–5 (3–3)	WVU Coliseum (14,329) Morgantown, WV
January 28, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN360		St. John's	W 75–52	15–5 (4–3)	WVU Coliseum (6,583) Morgantown, WV
January 31, 2009 12:00 pm, ESPN360		at No. 7 Louisville	L 63–69	15–6 (4–4)	Freedom Hall (19,416) Louisville, KY
February 4, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN		at No. 20 Syracuse	L 61–74	15–7 (4–5)	Carrier Dome (21,069) Syracuse, NY
February 7, 2009 4:00 pm, ESPN360		Providence	W 86–59	16–7 (5–5)	WVU Coliseum (11,091) Morgantown, WV
February 9, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN		at No. 4 Pittsburgh Backyard Brawl	L 59–70	16–8 (5–6)	Petersen Events Center (12,508) Pittsburgh, PA
February 13, 2009 9:00 pm, ESPN		No. 13 Villanova	W 93–72	17–8 (6–6)	WVU Coliseum (12,513) Morgantown, WV
February 18, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN360		Notre Dame	W 79–68	18–8 (7–6)	WVU Coliseum (13,126) Morgantown, WV
February 22, 2009 3:00 pm, ESPN360		at Rutgers	W 74–56	19–8 (8–6)	Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,281) Piscataway, NJ
February 26, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN		at Cincinnati	L 61–65	19–9 (8–7)	Fifth Third Arena (11,332) Cincinnati, OH
March 1, 2008 4:00 pm, ESPN360		at South Florida	W 64–50	20–9 (9–7)	USF Sun Dome (5,082) Tampa, FL
March 4, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN360		DePaul	W 82–63	21–9 (10–7)	WVU Coliseum (10,070) Morgantown, WV
March 7, 2009 9:00 pm, ESPN		No. 6 Louisville ESPN College GameDay	L 59–62	21–10 (10–8)	WVU Coliseum (13,089) Morgantown, WV
Big East tournament
March 11, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN		vs. Notre Dame Second Round	W 74–62	22–10	Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York, NY
March 12, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN		vs. No. 2 Pittsburgh Quarterfinals (Backyard Brawl)	W 74–60	23–10	Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York, NY
March 13, 2009 9:30 pm, ESPN		vs. No. 18 Syracuse Semifinals	L 69–74 OT	23–11	Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York, NY
NCAA Tournament
March 20, 2009* 3:00 pm, CBS		vs. Dayton 1st Round	L 60–68	23–12	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (15,794) Minneapolis, MN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Rankings

See also: 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final
AP									25	—										Not released
Coaches									22	—