Arizona is 2-0 to start its inaugural season in the Big 12, but the Wildcats aren’t unbeaten against conference opponents. In finishing 4^th at the Battle4Atlantis in the Bahamas over Thanksgiving, the UA lost in overtime to future league foe West Virginia.

Now, they meet for a game that counts toward the Big 12 standings.

West Virginia (11-2, 2-0) is off to its best start since 2017-18, buoyed by victories over the Wildcats (8-5, 2-0) as well as Gonzaga—also in the Bahamas—and Big 12 preseason favorite Kansas. The Mountaineers were picked to finish 13^th in the conference after going 9-23 last season, but first-year coach Darian DeVries has his team playing like a real contender for the league title.

To better understand the Mountaineers, we reached out to Matt Kirchner of SB Nation sister site The Smoking Musket for some insight and a score prediction. Below are his gritty answers to our unsteady questions:

AZ Desert Swarm: West Virginia has been arguably that biggest surprise of the Big 12 to this point, knocking off three preseason Top 10 teams including at Kansas. How surprised have you been with this start, and do you think it’s sustainable?

Matt Kirchner: “I was higher on West Virginia than most of the fanbase going into the season. Part of that was relentless homerism because I’m a rare basketball-first West Virginia fan and part of it was an understanding that Darian DeVries just wins, and there was no chance he was going into what looked like (more on that later) his son’s final year of college basketball with a ‘year zero’ mindset.

“However, they’ve even blown my expectations out of the water and have three Quad 1 wins by the first week of January, including the program’s first win at Allen Fieldhouse against Kansas which was a house of horrors of both blowouts and devastating late game collapses for even West Virginia’s best teams under Bob Huggins.

“The sustainability is questionable because of the injury luck. It’s been bad, but West Virginia keeps finding answers. DeVries has given this team a ‘No Excuses’ mantra and it’s tough for me to question it until proven otherwise. In each of their three biggest wins of the season (Gonzaga and Arizona in the Bahamas and this week against Kansas) they’ve found themselves in moments where I go ‘welp, they’re dead, but this was a great proof of concept’ and then they dug in and found ways to win each of those games. They’re an incredibly resilient group and something West Virginia fans really needed after the disastrous end of the Bob Huggins era.”

When Arizona lost to the Mountaineers in the Bahamas it was Tucker DeVries who killed the Wildcats, but he’s been out for a few games since. How has his absence changed things, and what’s the prognosis for his return?

“Man. This is the cloud hanging over West Virginia’s season and there’s not really an answer at this point. Darian DeVries has kept injury information very closely guarded. Tucker had surgery on his shoulder in the offseason, and the sense here is that something went wrong with it during or before West Virginia’s win over Georgetown (on Dec. 6).

“He’s out indefinitely, and while there’s hope he gives it a go, there’s a feeling that we’re getting closer to acceptance of him going for a medical redshirt. I think that West Virginia can be a tournament team without DeVries, but if they get him back it’s starting to feel like the sky’s the limit.”

Javon Small is an early contender for Big 12 Player of the Year. What makes him so difficult to slow down?

“The thing that has impressed me the most about Javon Small is his body control. He is in full control of everything at all times and uses it to get guys on the wrong foot or into the air and either draw a foul, blow by, or find an open teammate. And, going back to what I mentioned earlier, it feels like he’s the embodiment of Darian DeVries’ ‘No Excuses’ mantra. He’s a 40-minute-a-night player and the team feeds on that leadership. He’ll only be a Mountaineer for one season but he may leave Morgantown as an all-time great and fan favorite if he continues this pace.”

This will be the third straight Top 20 defensive team Arizona plays to open Big 12 play. What is the most effective part of West Virginia’s scheme and where could it be most exposed?

“WVU’s defense has been relentless so far this season and it’s what’s keeping them successful. The lack of depth leads to periods where the offense bogs down but they’ve never responded by letting it hurt their halfcourt defense. West Virginia does a fantastic job defending the perimeter and relentlessly hunts turnovers via tipped passes to let them manufacture offense. Sencire Harris, an Illinois transfer that came over with assistant Chester Frazier, is a vicious on-ball defender and is a joy to watch if you love defense.

“I think that where West Virginia can be hurt is if teams commit to going right at them at the basket. Center Eduardo Andre has emerged as a legitimate rim protector but he’s the only person on West Virginia’s roster taller than 6’8. They rebound well despite that, but are still vulnerable down low. Driving at West Virginia also opens them up to foul trouble which will be the team’s Achilles heel all season given the lack of depth, especially in the frontcourt.”

First-year coach Darian DeVries won 20 games in all six seasons at Drake and is well on his way to doing that again. How does he differ from the previous West Virginia coaches?

“West Virginia has been blessed in that Darian DeVries was preceded as full-time head coach by two Hall of Famers in Bob Huggins and John Beilien. While Huggs was one of the best defensive basketball coaches of all time, I think that his offense had gotten stale and there was some complacency around the program especially with regards to his longtime assistants. DeVries has been a burst of energy that the program sorely needed.

“What we’re seeing from DeVries is reminding a lot of West Virginia fans of the Beilein era, in terms of a more free flowing offense, but with a more physical style of halfcourt defense than John’s teams played at WVU.”

Prediction time. Does West Virginia stay hot and beat Arizona for a second time or do the Wildcats avenge the Bahamas loss and sweep a tough road swing? Give us a score prediction.

“My head is saying that West Virginia cools off here but the vibes are too good for me to predict a loss. The Coliseum is a special, special building when West Virginia basketball is good and this fanbase has sorely needed a team like this. I think the crowd rises up, the team feeds on that, and West Virginia adds another signature win against a surging Arizona team in a Big 12 classic, something along the lines of 68-65.”