Wednesday night, the West Virginia Mountaineers took care of business against the Wheeling Cardinals, 98-55, in the team's third and final exhibition before the start of the 2026-27 regular season.
St. John's transfer guard Joson Sanon was feeling it early in the game, drilling three consecutive three balls to create a comfortable cushion right out of the gates. This was a good sign for head coach Ross Hodge, considering Sanon missed the previous exhibition against Glenville State with a thigh bruise. He had a couple of other really good looks that just didn't go down, but the shot and his movement looked normal.
Son of WVU hoops legend Kevin Pittsnogle, Kwynsie made his first three-point attempt in Hope Coliseum right in front of the Mountaineer bench to make it a 10-point game around the 12-minute mark. Shortly after, his father was shown on the jumbotron and received a nice round of applause.
Wheeling was able to hang around to some degree in the first half because WVU went ice cold from the field, missing nine straight shots before Finley Bizjack buried a three to end the near eight-minute drought. West Virginia took a 45-28 lead into the break.
The Cardinals answered a 6-0 opening run by the Mountaineers with a 7-2 run, forcing Hodge to call a timeout to settle things down, and boy, did it ever. Miles Sadler and Finley Bizjack each chipped in seven points and helped spark a massive 29-9 run.
At the 8-minute mark, West Virginia emptied a good chunk of its bench, getting center Aliou Dioum and guards Alex Olejasz and Keonte Greybear in the game. Dioum slammed home a dunk around the 5:30-minute mark and was whistled for a technical for hanging on the rim. Hodge stormed onto the court and got right in Dioum's face to voice his frustration with the silly decision, very reminiscent of when Bob Huggins went after Daxter Miles Jr. a decade ago for the same thing.
Greybear knocked down a pair of threes, including an and-1 opportunity at the top of the key. If he makes the most of his opportunities in non-conference play, he might be able to crack the rotation at some point this season.
WVU leading scorers:Miles Sadler (15), Finley Bizjack (14), Mouhamed Sylla (11), Joson Sanon (11), Keonte Greybear (11)
The Mountaineers will open the lid on the regular season on Monday, November 2nd, at 7 p.m., taking on the Niagara Purple Eagles.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/westvirginia as Five Mountaineers Reach Double Figures as WVU Rolls Past Wheeling in Final Exhibition .
