MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WCHS) — It was a showdown between two Mountaineer teams to open the 2025-2026 men's basketball season, with the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers descending upon the newly-renamed Hope Coliseum in Morgantown to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers.

WVU played a very even game, scoring 35 points in both halves to take a 70-54 victory over Mount St. Mary's to open the season.

The game marked the debut of Ross Hodge as the head coach of the Mountaineers. The former North Texas men's basketball head coach replaces Darian DeVries, who left the team after one season to become the head coach at Indiana University.

Jasper Floyd led WVU in scoring with 25 points. Honor Huff and Brenen Lorient also posted 16 and 11 points, respectively. Lorient came up with a double-double, grabbing 13 rebounds in addition to his 11 points.

Trey Deveaux led Mount St. Mary's in scoring with 15 points, the only player on the team to reach double digits in scoring.

Despite being bested by or tied with Mount St. Mary's in nearly every statistical category, the difference-maker for WVU over its Mountaineer foe was three more field goals and 10 more free throws than Mount St. Mary's. WVU also had only nine turnovers, just half of what Mount St. Mary's had.

"I thought our difference in the game was our defensive activity," Hodge said after the game. "We turned them over [18] times, and we only turned it over nine. That made up for some poor free throw shooting [and we] didn't shoot the ball well from three."

Mt. St. Mary's starts the season 0-1 and will face Bucknell for its home opener on Friday at 7 p.m., which will be streamed on ESPN+.

Meanwhile, Hodge and WVU open the season 1-0 and will remain at Hope Coliseum to face Campbell on Thursday. Tip off for that game is scheduled for 7 p.m., and can be streamed on ESPN+.