WVU Men's Basketball Javon Small Darian DeVries Tucker DeVries Gonzaga Postgame 11
WVU Men's Basketball Falls to Gonzaga in Season Opener
## DeVries, Small Lead Scoring for Mountaineers
SPOKANE, Wash. - The West Virginia University men's basketball team dropped its season opener to the No. 12 Gonzaga Bulldogs 84-71 on Tuesday night at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
## Tucker DeVries' Gonzaga Debut
Tucker DeVries, the younger brother of WVU head coach Bob Huggins, made his Gonzaga debut against his brother's team. DeVries scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds.
"It was a cool opportunity to play against my brother and a great team like West Virginia," DeVries said. "It was a lot of fun, but I'm disappointed we didn't get the win."
## Javon Small Leads WVU Offense
Javon Small led the Mountaineers with 17 points, while Darian DeVries added 14 points. Emmitt Matthews Jr. chipped in with 11 points and nine rebounds.
"We're a work in progress," Huggins said. "We've got some good players, but we're still trying to figure out how to play together."
## Gonzaga Dominates Inside
Gonzaga dominated the paint, outscoring West Virginia 48-28 in the paint. The Bulldogs also shot 50% from the field to West Virginia's 42.1%.
"We didn't do a good enough job defending the paint," Huggins said. "They're a big team, and they took advantage of that."
## Outlook
The Mountaineers will return to action on Friday when they host the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights at the WVU Coliseum. Gonzaga will host the No. 20 Michigan State Spartans on Saturday.