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03-10-2018, 12:05 PM
In the first game, Kansas outlasted Kansas State, 83-67.
The nightcap was a back-and-forth affair throughout with Texas Tech staking itself to an early nine-point lead at 15-6.
In the second half, West Virginia had an eight-point advantage at 56-48 with 6:07 remaining, but the Red Raiders got it all back in a matter of 1:06. Jarrett Culver converted a conventional three-point play when he was fouled by Esa Ahmad as he was following up Keenan Evans' miss.
Evans added a driving layup and Sagaba Konate's miss turned into a Niem Stevenson 3, forcing West Virginia coach Bob Huggins to call timeout with 4:52 to go.
The Red Raiders briefly retook the lead when Culver made one of two at the line with 4:14 remaining, but Carter quickly answered with a difficult bank shot close to the basket.
He was fouled on the play by Evans and converted the free throw.
Konate's jump hook from the right block gave West Virginia a 61-58 lead with 2:43 to go before Zach Smith answered with a basket 24 seconds later.
Huggins used another timeout and when play resumed, Konate scored when he followed Carter's miss to give West Virginia a 63-60 lead.
Evans was fouled by Miles Jr. with 1:29 to go and went to the line for two free throws. But once again, he could only get one of them to go down. At the other end of the floor, Justin Gray fouled Konate with 1:11 remaining, putting the sophomore on the line for a one-and-one.
He hit both, giving the Mountaineers a 65-61 advantage.
Evans worked Carter down low near the basket and drew a foul as he made a difficult shot falling away from the basket. Once again though, Evans missed from the charity stripe and Konate grabbed the rebound.
The clock wound down to 28 seconds when the ball was knocked out of bounds with only three seconds showing on the shot clock.
Huggins used his final timeout here, but Miles Jr.'s twisting 3-point try from the corner was off the mark giving Tech a chance to tie it with a two or take the lead with a triple.
Evans missed a contested 3 from the top of the key that was retrieved on the baseline by Zhaire Smith as he was falling out of bounds. His pass back out toward Gray was intercepted by Miles Jr. and he was fouled by Gray with six seconds remaining.
Tech used its final two timeouts, one before Miles Jr. made the first one and the other before he missed the second. Gray grabbed the miss but was hemmed in along the side court by Wesley Harris. He eventually got the ball to Stevenson at midcourt, but his heave to tie it with a second left drew iron before falling out of bounds.
"From our standpoint we felt like it was an ugly game," Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said. "But West Virginia makes you play ugly with their toughness and physicality and the way they throw the ball inside, so give them credit."
Texas Tech's inability to make free throws really hurt it in the second half. The Red Raiders missed 10 in all, seven of those coming in the second half.
Neither team shot the ball particularly well. West Virginia converted 40 percent of its field goal attempts, and Texas Tech shot 45.1 percent, including 50 percent in the second half on mostly drives to the rim.
But the Mountaineers (24-9) hit half of their 20 field goal attempts from behind the arc, Miles Jr. going 5 of 9 and Carter making 4 of 7.
Culver led Texas Tech with 16 points while Evans contributed 13, and Stevenson added 11.
"It's a disappointing loss for us because it was a weird stat sheet," Beard said. "We make more field goals, we outrebound them, we have a low turnover game against their press on a one-day prep, but we don't win the game.
"So, two things come to mind, the free throw line got us tonight, but that's basketball. And letting their best two guards, Daxter Miles and Jevon Carter, get loose for that many 3-point shots. There has to be some defensive mistakes there that we have to own."
The Red Raiders (24-9) had a 38-32 edge on the glass and only committed 10 turnovers.
"When you play (two) games in (two) days it's hard to play the way we play, but it's also hard for them to play against it," Huggins said. "We just backed it off because we wanted to guard in the half court and try and make them run some clock.
"Not put them at the foul line."
West Virginia advances to the Big 12 Tournament championship for the third straight year to face Kansas tomorrow night. The Mountaineers and Jayhawks met in the 2016 title game won by Kansas 81-71.
Last year, West Virginia lost to Iowa State,80-74. Both games were played before partisan crowds, and another pro-Kansas turnout is expected tomorrow night.
Of the handful of questions posed to Huggins, Carter and Miles Jr. during tonight's postgame press conference, nearly all of them dealt with tomorrow's matchup against the Jayhawks.
One directed at Carter was about his matchup with Big 12 Player of the Year Devonte' Graham.
"It ain't about that," he said. "It is West Virginia versus Kansas tomorrow. It is five guys on that court at one time. I hate when y'all try to make it a one-on-one matchup. It's never about that. It's five guys out there on the floor at a time. It's West Virginia against Kansas."
West Virginia against Kansas tips at 6 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN.
http://wvusports.com/news/2018/3/9/mens-...-year.aspx
The nightcap was a back-and-forth affair throughout with Texas Tech staking itself to an early nine-point lead at 15-6.
In the second half, West Virginia had an eight-point advantage at 56-48 with 6:07 remaining, but the Red Raiders got it all back in a matter of 1:06. Jarrett Culver converted a conventional three-point play when he was fouled by Esa Ahmad as he was following up Keenan Evans' miss.
Evans added a driving layup and Sagaba Konate's miss turned into a Niem Stevenson 3, forcing West Virginia coach Bob Huggins to call timeout with 4:52 to go.
The Red Raiders briefly retook the lead when Culver made one of two at the line with 4:14 remaining, but Carter quickly answered with a difficult bank shot close to the basket.
He was fouled on the play by Evans and converted the free throw.
Konate's jump hook from the right block gave West Virginia a 61-58 lead with 2:43 to go before Zach Smith answered with a basket 24 seconds later.
Huggins used another timeout and when play resumed, Konate scored when he followed Carter's miss to give West Virginia a 63-60 lead.
Evans was fouled by Miles Jr. with 1:29 to go and went to the line for two free throws. But once again, he could only get one of them to go down. At the other end of the floor, Justin Gray fouled Konate with 1:11 remaining, putting the sophomore on the line for a one-and-one.
He hit both, giving the Mountaineers a 65-61 advantage.
Evans worked Carter down low near the basket and drew a foul as he made a difficult shot falling away from the basket. Once again though, Evans missed from the charity stripe and Konate grabbed the rebound.
The clock wound down to 28 seconds when the ball was knocked out of bounds with only three seconds showing on the shot clock.
Huggins used his final timeout here, but Miles Jr.'s twisting 3-point try from the corner was off the mark giving Tech a chance to tie it with a two or take the lead with a triple.
Evans missed a contested 3 from the top of the key that was retrieved on the baseline by Zhaire Smith as he was falling out of bounds. His pass back out toward Gray was intercepted by Miles Jr. and he was fouled by Gray with six seconds remaining.
Tech used its final two timeouts, one before Miles Jr. made the first one and the other before he missed the second. Gray grabbed the miss but was hemmed in along the side court by Wesley Harris. He eventually got the ball to Stevenson at midcourt, but his heave to tie it with a second left drew iron before falling out of bounds.
"From our standpoint we felt like it was an ugly game," Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said. "But West Virginia makes you play ugly with their toughness and physicality and the way they throw the ball inside, so give them credit."
Texas Tech's inability to make free throws really hurt it in the second half. The Red Raiders missed 10 in all, seven of those coming in the second half.
Neither team shot the ball particularly well. West Virginia converted 40 percent of its field goal attempts, and Texas Tech shot 45.1 percent, including 50 percent in the second half on mostly drives to the rim.
But the Mountaineers (24-9) hit half of their 20 field goal attempts from behind the arc, Miles Jr. going 5 of 9 and Carter making 4 of 7.
Culver led Texas Tech with 16 points while Evans contributed 13, and Stevenson added 11.
"It's a disappointing loss for us because it was a weird stat sheet," Beard said. "We make more field goals, we outrebound them, we have a low turnover game against their press on a one-day prep, but we don't win the game.
"So, two things come to mind, the free throw line got us tonight, but that's basketball. And letting their best two guards, Daxter Miles and Jevon Carter, get loose for that many 3-point shots. There has to be some defensive mistakes there that we have to own."
The Red Raiders (24-9) had a 38-32 edge on the glass and only committed 10 turnovers.
"When you play (two) games in (two) days it's hard to play the way we play, but it's also hard for them to play against it," Huggins said. "We just backed it off because we wanted to guard in the half court and try and make them run some clock.
"Not put them at the foul line."
West Virginia advances to the Big 12 Tournament championship for the third straight year to face Kansas tomorrow night. The Mountaineers and Jayhawks met in the 2016 title game won by Kansas 81-71.
Last year, West Virginia lost to Iowa State,80-74. Both games were played before partisan crowds, and another pro-Kansas turnout is expected tomorrow night.
Of the handful of questions posed to Huggins, Carter and Miles Jr. during tonight's postgame press conference, nearly all of them dealt with tomorrow's matchup against the Jayhawks.
One directed at Carter was about his matchup with Big 12 Player of the Year Devonte' Graham.
"It ain't about that," he said. "It is West Virginia versus Kansas tomorrow. It is five guys on that court at one time. I hate when y'all try to make it a one-on-one matchup. It's never about that. It's five guys out there on the floor at a time. It's West Virginia against Kansas."
West Virginia against Kansas tips at 6 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN.
http://wvusports.com/news/2018/3/9/mens-...-year.aspx
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