MORGANTOWN —
West Virginia University’s first Big 12 victory was a memorable win in a most forgettable overtime game.
Fighting back from a 13-point deficit in a game where they could have been down 30, the Mountaineers could not clinch the victory until Aaric Murray stole a Texas pass and sank two free throws with 6.5 seconds left for a 57-53 final score.
Texas coach Rick Barnes had won all 14 of his previous conference home openers.
West Virginia had missed 14 consecutive 3-point shots and was in jeopardy of seeing its streak of 436 consecutive games with a 3-point basket broken when Kevin Noreen, of all people, hit a 3 to get them back into contention. A struggling Jabarie Hinds, who had missed all five of his 3-point tries, then tied the game at 47 with a 3, and then WVU nearly won it in regulation as Eron Harris hit a 3 for a 50-47 lead in the final seconds.
But the Longhorns, who now have dropped each of their first two conference games this season in overtime, tied the game when Jonathan Harris dropped his own 3 on top of that to force overtime.
In overtime the Mountaineers crushed the offensive boards, allowing them to run one possession for almost two minutes. In all they had 17 offensive rebounds, Noreen showing the way with 13 boards.
“This is what we do,” Huggins said of the rebounding. “This is what I’m accustomed to seeing us doing. I wasn’t accustomed of seeing what they had been doing. If we play this way, we’re going to be all right.”
The Mountaineers now are 8-6 and even their Big 12 record at 1-1.
As play started, neither coach knew what to expect from his team, at least what good to expect.
“You never know who is going to play; you never know who is going to show up,” Huggins had said in preparing for the game.
His counterpart, Rick Barnes, coaching the youngest team in America with two freshmen and three sophomores starting and not a junior or senior in his rotation, echoed Huggins’ feelings as his team has had similar struggles.
“Like Bobby,” Barnes said, “I don’t know what to expect.”
“We’re young, but as coaches, we can’t accept that,” Barnes continued. “Sometimes maybe we’re unrealistic that way. We do realize it’s something they’re going through they haven’t gone through, but they think they’re older than they are. If they think that way, they ought to play like they’re older than they are.”
While Texas had been suffering similar problems scoring to WVU’s, the Longhorns figured to shut down the Mountaineers’ anemic attack as they were allowing only 60 points a game and were No. 1 in the nation allowing just 33 percent from the field and 23 percent from 3-point range.
Considering the Mountaineers were shooting just 39.7 percent from the field, which was 303rd in the country, and 28.7 from 3-point range, which would have been No. 317 if it qualified to be ranked, what transpired was quite predictable.
The Mountaineers were terrible … and so was Texas as the Longhorns led, 24-21, at the half.
There was no telling how bad it might have been had Texas not been 4-for-14 from the free-throw line in the first half with seven turnovers while the Mountaineers outrebounded the Longhorns 21-15.
Shooting in the first half was worse than normal for WVU, which hit but 25 percent of its field goals and never did hit one of its 10 3-point tries. The Mountaineers missed 15 of their last 17 shots of the half.
About the only thing that worked was Huggins decision to start Noreen, who cleared 8 rebounds in the first half.
“I don’t know that our bigs can play very long,” Huggins said of the decision to go with Noreen and Dominique Rutledge instead of Deniz Kilicli and Aaric Murray. “Down the stretch against Oklahoma we didn’t play well down, so we will try to keep the big guys fresher, get them in and get them out.”
He had to. By halftime Rutledge and Kilicli had three fouls each and Murray two.
Email Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @bhertzel.
Sports
‘What we do’
WVU hits boards hard, rallies to 57-53 OT win over Texas
- Sports
-
-
Polar Bears set for Oak Glen today
Oak Glen is next on the menu for the Fairmont Senior baseball squad.
With the 11-0 win over Braxton County on Tuesday evening, and Oak Glen’s eight-inning 2-1 win over Ritchie County, the two teams find themselves squaring off against one another while fighting for a spot to play in the state tournament. -
HERTZEL COLUMN: Big 12 baseball tournament is about America
All of a sudden the Big 12’s annual baseball tournament is more about America and the American way than it is about baseball.
And that makes it a wonderful thing. -
East’s Summers signs to play softball at FSU
East Fairmont softball player Kayla Summers always dreamed about playing softball in college.
On Tuesday, Summers signed her letter of intent to play at Fairmont State University.
“Ever since I started playing softball, I always told my parents that I was going to go to college and play softball,” she said. -
Musgrave to pitch WVU’s second game
West Virginia University baseball coach Randy Mazey believes that the change in format of the Big 12 Tournament will benefit his Mountaineers because it allows him to hold conference Pitcher of the Year Harrison Musgrave until the key second game of the tournament.
-
Jets QB Geno Smith picks Jay-Z’s agency as new rep
Geno Smith has joined Jay-Z for one big sports and hip-hop collaboration.
The New York Jets rookie quarterback has chosen the rap artist’s new Roc Nation Sports to represent him. Smith, who slipped out of the first round last month and fell to the Jets in the second round at No. 39 overall, fired his agents — Select Sports — shortly after the NFL draft. -
Liriano dominates as Pirates edge Cubs, 1-0
Francisco Liriano continued his torrid start, scattering two hits over seven innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates edged the Chicago Cubs 1-0 on Wednesday night.
-
Penguins rout Senators, 7-3, take 3-1 series lead
Jarome Iginla and James Neal each scored twice and the Pittsburgh Penguins routed the Ottawa Senators 7-3 on Wednesday night to take a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.
-
FSHS glides past Braxton, 11-0: PHOTOS
Fairmont Senior High School’s baseball team leveled Braxton County in the Class AA semi-regionals Tuesday evening, 11-0.
The Polar Bears were led by their cleanup hitter, Johnny Kesling, and starting pitcher, Fletcher DeVaul. -
HERTZEL COLUMN: Bill Stewart is missed, remembered
It was Monday, the first anniversary of Bill Stewart’s sudden death while playing the 16th hole of a charity golf tournament with West Virginia University’s former athletic director and his former boss, Ed Pastilong.
-
Miles granted release from WVU
Junior forward Keaton Miles, who suffered through a disappointing sophomore season as West Virginia fell below .500, has been granted a release and will seek a transfer, according to published reports.
- More Sports Headlines
-
Polar Bears set for Oak Glen today
