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01-21-2018, 01:27 PM
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Sixth-ranked West Virginia used 15-0 run during a four-minute stretch in the second half to run away with an 86-51 victory over Texas here at the WVU Coliseum this afternoon.
Texas, 12-7, 3-4, hit a wall right after Dylan Osetkowski's dunk off of Kerwin Roach's steal that pulled the Longhorns to within eight, 45-37, with 11:32 remaining in the game.
Then, West Virginia (16-3, 5-2) hit its next nine shots, including 3s from Jevon Carter, James Bolden and Daxter Miles Jr., as the Mountaineers built their lead to 23, then to 26, 29, 31 and finally to 35 as the Longhorns continued to miss shot after shot.
Texas took 50 shot attempts for the game and missed 33 of those from just about everywhere - 12 out of 15 from 3, 21 out of 35 from two and the Longhorns even eight out of 22 from the free throw line.
It got so bad for Texas in the second half that 6-foot-11 center Mohamed Bamba jacked a 3 in frustration from the top of the key that ended up turning into three more points for the Mountaineers when Carter, who finished with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-18 shooting, banged in his fourth 3.
"We made some great rotations today," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins remarked. Huggins said afterward that he went to a version of the point-drop zone defense that he once used successfully during the Final Four season in 2010, although he admitted he was not certain what it was his guys were actually running out there this afternoon.
"It's my own creation," Huggins joked. "It started out as point-drop in 2010 and it morphed into something ⦠it's hard to figure out because we don't know what we're doing in it either."
Whatever it was they were running, it did get Texas out of rhythm and stagnant offensively.
"It got them standing around a little bit more," Huggins said. "They were getting penetration on us, and then you take a big body off a big body and they were able to rebound it and when we went to that it slowed down penetration, anyway."
Before the Mountaineers got hot in the second half, it was a fairly close contest with both teams struggling to make shots. The game was tied at 20 when WVU pulled ahead on free throws from Lamont West and a Carter field goal.
A Carter 3 boosted West Virginia's lead to eight, and Esa Ahmad's layup gave the Mountaineers their first double-digit advantage with 1:53 remaining in the first half.
Bolden did most of the damage before intermission by scoring nine of his 19 points on three 3s. He left the floor late in the first half when he limped into the training room, but he returned to play a good portion of the second half.
"I thought we ran better offense in the second half," Huggins said. "The first half I don't know what we were. Everyone was a little out of character doing things they shouldn't do."
The Mountaineers, despite giving up several inches per man near the basket, outrebounded Texas, 45-29, including a 14-6 edge on the offensive glass which led to 22 second-chance points.
West Virginia also outscored Texas' bench, 33-14, with 27 of those coming from Bolden and Ahmad. One more interesting stat from today's game: West Virginia took more field goals (18) than Texas made (17) for the afternoon.
Miles Jr. contributed 15 points and sophomore Sagaba Konate continues to blossom with 10 points, a career-high 14 rebounds and six blocks while going head-to-head against Bamba.
"I think (Konate) is getting better and we were able to rest him a little bit more this game," Huggins said, also mentioning the work sophomore Logan Routt did coming off the bench with five rebounds in 10 minutes of action.
Bamba finished with 9 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in 32 minutes of action.
No Longhorn player reached double figures.
"I thought that West Virginia's spirit, fight and energy was, by far, superior today," Texas coach Shaka Smart said. "We didn't respond to it well enough."
On his postgame radio show, Huggins joked that he was late getting to the locker room before today's game because he didn't have proper credentials to get into the WVU Coliseum and an attendant at the gate was reluctant to let him in.
"I talked to (WVU director of athletics Shane Lyons) and he said I'm good to coach another game," he quipped. "I asked (the attendant) if he was prepared to coach the team then because I'm the coach."
Carter's 22 moves him past Alex Ruoff (2006-09) and Darryl Prue (1986-89) into 19th place in career scoring with 1,440 points. Miles Jr. also jumped two spots past Lionel Armstead (1999-02) and Tyrone Sally (2002-05) into a tie with Lloyd Sharrar (1956-58) for 41st place in career scoring with 1,101 points.
Today's victory, coupled with losses earlier today by Texas Tech and Oklahoma, moves West Virginia into sole possession of second place in the Big 12 standings ½ game behind Kansas, which plays Baylor later this evening in Allen Fieldhouse.
The Mountaineers have another quick turnaround with a Monday night matchup looming against TCU in Fort Worth.
The 24th-ranked Horned Frogs are playing at Kansas State this afternoon.
http://wvusports.com/news/2018/1/20/mens...-skid.aspx
Texas, 12-7, 3-4, hit a wall right after Dylan Osetkowski's dunk off of Kerwin Roach's steal that pulled the Longhorns to within eight, 45-37, with 11:32 remaining in the game.
Then, West Virginia (16-3, 5-2) hit its next nine shots, including 3s from Jevon Carter, James Bolden and Daxter Miles Jr., as the Mountaineers built their lead to 23, then to 26, 29, 31 and finally to 35 as the Longhorns continued to miss shot after shot.
Texas took 50 shot attempts for the game and missed 33 of those from just about everywhere - 12 out of 15 from 3, 21 out of 35 from two and the Longhorns even eight out of 22 from the free throw line.
It got so bad for Texas in the second half that 6-foot-11 center Mohamed Bamba jacked a 3 in frustration from the top of the key that ended up turning into three more points for the Mountaineers when Carter, who finished with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-18 shooting, banged in his fourth 3.
"We made some great rotations today," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins remarked. Huggins said afterward that he went to a version of the point-drop zone defense that he once used successfully during the Final Four season in 2010, although he admitted he was not certain what it was his guys were actually running out there this afternoon.
"It's my own creation," Huggins joked. "It started out as point-drop in 2010 and it morphed into something ⦠it's hard to figure out because we don't know what we're doing in it either."
Whatever it was they were running, it did get Texas out of rhythm and stagnant offensively.
"It got them standing around a little bit more," Huggins said. "They were getting penetration on us, and then you take a big body off a big body and they were able to rebound it and when we went to that it slowed down penetration, anyway."
Before the Mountaineers got hot in the second half, it was a fairly close contest with both teams struggling to make shots. The game was tied at 20 when WVU pulled ahead on free throws from Lamont West and a Carter field goal.
A Carter 3 boosted West Virginia's lead to eight, and Esa Ahmad's layup gave the Mountaineers their first double-digit advantage with 1:53 remaining in the first half.
Bolden did most of the damage before intermission by scoring nine of his 19 points on three 3s. He left the floor late in the first half when he limped into the training room, but he returned to play a good portion of the second half.
"I thought we ran better offense in the second half," Huggins said. "The first half I don't know what we were. Everyone was a little out of character doing things they shouldn't do."
The Mountaineers, despite giving up several inches per man near the basket, outrebounded Texas, 45-29, including a 14-6 edge on the offensive glass which led to 22 second-chance points.
West Virginia also outscored Texas' bench, 33-14, with 27 of those coming from Bolden and Ahmad. One more interesting stat from today's game: West Virginia took more field goals (18) than Texas made (17) for the afternoon.
Miles Jr. contributed 15 points and sophomore Sagaba Konate continues to blossom with 10 points, a career-high 14 rebounds and six blocks while going head-to-head against Bamba.
"I think (Konate) is getting better and we were able to rest him a little bit more this game," Huggins said, also mentioning the work sophomore Logan Routt did coming off the bench with five rebounds in 10 minutes of action.
Bamba finished with 9 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in 32 minutes of action.
No Longhorn player reached double figures.
"I thought that West Virginia's spirit, fight and energy was, by far, superior today," Texas coach Shaka Smart said. "We didn't respond to it well enough."
On his postgame radio show, Huggins joked that he was late getting to the locker room before today's game because he didn't have proper credentials to get into the WVU Coliseum and an attendant at the gate was reluctant to let him in.
"I talked to (WVU director of athletics Shane Lyons) and he said I'm good to coach another game," he quipped. "I asked (the attendant) if he was prepared to coach the team then because I'm the coach."
Carter's 22 moves him past Alex Ruoff (2006-09) and Darryl Prue (1986-89) into 19th place in career scoring with 1,440 points. Miles Jr. also jumped two spots past Lionel Armstead (1999-02) and Tyrone Sally (2002-05) into a tie with Lloyd Sharrar (1956-58) for 41st place in career scoring with 1,101 points.
Today's victory, coupled with losses earlier today by Texas Tech and Oklahoma, moves West Virginia into sole possession of second place in the Big 12 standings ½ game behind Kansas, which plays Baylor later this evening in Allen Fieldhouse.
The Mountaineers have another quick turnaround with a Monday night matchup looming against TCU in Fort Worth.
The 24th-ranked Horned Frogs are playing at Kansas State this afternoon.
http://wvusports.com/news/2018/1/20/mens...-skid.aspx
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