Is the Matchup with UCF a MUST WIN for West Virginia?

UCF PreviewHow They Got HereThe UCF Knights have been one of the surprise teams (in a good way) in the Big 12. Coming off a 2024-25 season in which they bolstered just a 7-13 record in conference play, the Knights have positioned themselves with a strong chance to make the NCAA Tournament.The Knights began conference play with a win over Kansas that led to their being ranked in the next week’s AP Poll. Since then, UCF has collected conference wins over Cincinnati, Kansas State, Colorado, Arizona State, and Texas Tech. They have lost games to Oklahoma State, Arizona, and Iowa State, and have lost in their last two games on the road at Houston and Cincinnati.Much like the Mountaineers, the Knights have been impressive at home this season. Their lone loss at home came at the hands of #1 Arizona, 84-77 in mid-January. After a string of three-consecutive victories to boost the Knights to 6-3 in Big 12 play, they have since lost back-to-back as West Virginia comes to Orlando for an important matchup with major NCAA Tournament implications.Numbers to Know1 - 12 - 23 - ?The aforementioned streak that the Knights have been on dates all the way back to their win over Kansas and the start of Big 12 play.They then won back-to-back games before losing two in a row, followed by three consecutive wins and their current two-game losing streak. West Virginia will aim to extend UCF's skid on Saturday evening.After that, they won three straight and have lost two straight. West Virginia would like to help extend that losing streak for UCF on Saturday evening.12.8 & 9.2UCF has proven to be one of the better rebounding teams in the Big 12 this season. They are hauling in 12.8 offensive rebounds per game (trailing only Houston & Arizona in that department) on the season. Meanwhile, they are only allowing 9.2 offensive rebounds to opposing teams, trailing only WVU (8.9) in the conference. Much like we knew that Sunday’s matchup with Texas Tech would be largely decided by three-point shooting, keep an eye on which team does a better job on the glass on Saturday night in Orlando.54.3While one of the main talking points was the three-point line against Texas Tech, inside the three-point arc is where West Virginia may be able to take advantage against UCF. UCF is allowing opponents to make 54.3% of their shots inside the arc, ranking them 281st nationally, while WVU ranks 12th nationally, allowing just over 45% of shots to fall inside the arc. West Virginia bigs, Harlan Obioha and Brenen Lorient, will be looking to build off of a strong performance they put forth against the Red Raiders.Players to KnowJohnny Dawkins’ team is led by a pair of transfer guards in Riley Kugel and Themus Fulks. Kugel is averaging over 14 points per game while making 38% of his three-point attempts. Fulks is a pass-first point guard who transferred from Milwaukee. Fulks is averaging over 13 points and 6.8 assists per game. His 6.8 assists rank him 12th amongst the nation’s leaders. He’s shooting 44% from beyond the arc, albeit on just 1.5 attempts per game.On the interior, the Knights are led by transfers Jamichael Stillwell and Jordan Burks, who are both averaging over 12 points per game. Stillwell and Fulks were teammates at Milwaukee. Stillwell is averaging 8 rebounds per game and has notched 6 double-doubles as a Knight this season.  Big Game For West VirginiaWith 7 games remaining in the regular season, the Mountaineers remain on the outside looking in at the NCAA Tournament field according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. The good news for West Virginia is that they have opportunities to bolster their tournament resume, and that starts with a big game on Saturday night against UCF. Should the Mountaineers (15-9, 6-5) make a late push toward the bubble, a road win over UCF could go a long way toward making that a reality.