The West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team represents West Virginia University in NCAA Division I college basketball competition, and is a member of the Big East Conference. West Virginia holds a storied basketball history from the late 1950s and early 1960s, and most recently reached the Sweet Sixteen of the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, led by West Virginia coach and former WVU player Bob Huggins. Their official uniform colors are old gold and blue and their mascot is The Mountaineer.
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The home games are played at the 14,000 capacity WVU Coliseum. West Virginia men's basketball has competed in three basketball championship final matches: the 1959 NCAA final, the 1942 NIT final at that time, the NIT was considered more prestigious than the NCAA, and the 2007 NIT Championship, and lost 71-70 to California in the 1959 final NCAA finals, while the Mountaineers won the 1942 NIT Championship 47-45 over Western Kentucky, and the 2007 NIT contest over Clemson 78-73 in a rebuilding season.
The most points scored in a game was 132 points against Alaska-Fairbanks in 1994, while the largest margin of victory was against Salem College, with the Mountaineers winning 113-32 in 1945. The largest margin of defeat in Mountaineer basketball history came in 1978 against Louisville, when the Cardinals beat the Mountaineers 106-60. The run to the Big East semifinals paved the way for the team to reach the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in coach Bobby Huggins' first season, and they received a number 7 seed in the West Region, set to play number 10 seed Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team, on March 20.