Photos: WVU Upends Nationally Ranked BYU, 79-71
By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on March 02, 2026
West Virginia ended its three-game losing streak in style by defeating 19th-ranked BYU 79-71 before a sell-out crowd of 13,799 tonight at Hope Coliseum.
The Mountaineers jumped out to a 40-26 halftime lead and withstood a late Cougar charge to secure their 17th victory of the season and another important Quad 1 triumph.
It was West Virginia's fifth Quad 1 victory of the season and keeps the Mountaineers in the NCAA Tournament conversation with a relatively weak field of bubble teams.
It was WVU's second win over a ranked conference foe, which further boosts its postseason portfolio.
It also evens West Virginia's Big 12 record to 8-8 and in a three-way tie for eighth place in the No. 1 basketball league in the country with BYU and Cincinnati while now owning the tiebreaker over both teams.
West Virginia returns to the road to play at Kansas State on Tuesday night before wrapping up the regular season next Friday evening in Morgantown against UCF.
