Arizona hosts West Virginia on Saturday, seeking a 20th consecutive win to start the 2025-26 season. Looming for Arizona on Monday night is a huge game at 13th ranked BYU. BYU hosts Utah on Saturday before the epic Big Monday showdown againstW Arizona.
West Virginia enters the game on Saturday at Arizona with 13 wins and six losses overall and four victories and two defeats in the Big XII. The Mountaineers are tied with Iowa State and Kansas for fifth place in the Big XII. Arizona leads the Big XII with six wins and no losses.
West Virginia has won its last two games over Colorado and Arizona State. West Virginia also has Big XII wins over Cincinnati and Kansas. Iowa State and Houston gave West Virginia its lone conference losses by a combined 50 points.
In the postgame after the win over Cincinnati on Wednesday, Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd responded to a question about BYU on Monday that he is focused on West Virginia. Lloyd will use the outcome against West Virginia as an opportunity to prepare for BYU.
"You can be doing great - but you still gotta get better."
— Michael Lev (@MichaelJLev) January 22, 2026
-Tommy Lloyd on his message to the team this week
Major transition at West Virginia
Ross Hodge is in his first season as the head coach at West Virginia. Hodge is the fourth head coach in as many seasons for the Mountaineers. Hodge was an assistant at North Texas under current Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland for six seasons before ascending to head coach prior to being hired at West Virginia.
Similar to McCasland and Texas Tech, expect Hodge and West Virginia to slow the pace. West Virginia is 350th nationally, averaging 66.5 possessions per game. Arizona is 44th nationally, averaging 74.7 possessions per game.
West Virginia is in the top 20 nationally in field goals made per game and in field goal percentage defense. The Mountaineers are sixth nationally, allowing 63.1 points per game. West Virginia has a similar style to Cincinnati who Arizona defeated 77-51 on Wednesday.
Four players for West Virginia average in double figures with another two posting over 7.0 PPG. West Virginia has a deep bench with 10 players averaging at least 10 minutes per game. West Virginia is a good rebounding team and that will be a stat to watch on Saturday.
If Arizona beats West Virginia as expected, they will have an opportunity to tie the program record for consecutive wins with 21 to begin the season on Monday at BYU. Lloyd will have Arizona focused on West Virginia first.