Mountaineers show grit in closing minutes to win at Utah, 71-69 – WV MetroNews

It remains to be seen if West Virginia’s 71-69 win at Utah is the final necessary piece to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament field of 68. A fourth road victory in Big 12 play will allow the Mountaineers to enjoy their cross-country flight on Wednesday at the end of a two-game, six-day road trip.

West Virginia (18-12, 9-10 Big 12) erased an eight-point deficit early in the second half and they secured the game with a 7-0 run in the final minutes.

“That was a fun ending again,” said WVU head coach Darian DeVries on the WVU postgame radio broadcast.

“We came out and we didn’t have much that first 15 minutes. I don’t know what the factors are, long road trip, whatever it may be. But what I was really proud of the guys about is that they bounced out of it. They started to find it a little bit and then they started to play with that confidence and swagger we love to see.”

Utah needed less than nine minutes of game time to build a 12-point lead at 19-7. West Virginia nearly erased that deficit with a 10-0 run to pull with a basket at 19-17 with six minutes to play before intermission.

The Mountaineers took their first lead since the opening minutes with a three-pointer from Javon Small with forty seconds left in the half. West Virginia led 30-29 at the break.

In the final minute of the first half, WVU center Eduardo Andre was hit in the face by an elbow while attempting to grab a rebound. He remained on the floor for a few minutes but he returned to the game at the start of the second half with his nose packed with gauze. Andre played the remainder of the half with both nostrils plugged. He scored four points and grabbed three rebounds in 17 minutes on the floor.

With the game tied at 36, Utah regained the advantage with an 8-0 run at the 14-minute mark.

With four minutes remaining and the game tied at 58, West Virginia scored on three consecutive possessions. A three-pointer by Small gave WVU a lead they would not relinquish. Andre followed with a dunk on the next trip down court and a triple from Joseph Yesufu gave the Mountaineers a five-point lead at 66-61 with two minutes to play.

The Utes (16-14, 8-11) scored three consecutive points to pull within a basket. However, Small hit a well-contested runner in the lane to double the Mountaineer advantage to four points with 36 seconds to play.

Trailing by six points [70-64] with four seconds left, Utah’s Gabe Madsen hit a three-pointer to pull the Utes within three. Utah stole the inbounds pass and Jake Whalin’s layup trimmed the deficit to one point with 1.7 seconds left. Sencire Harris made one of two free throws to extend the lead to two points. Yesufu partially blocked at half court heave at the buzzer to preserve the victory.

“I thought in the second half, we really dug in and had some big stops as that half wore on. Offensively, I thought we started to find a little more rhythm in how to go get in the paint and make plays for one another.

“Those seniors made huge plays for us. The urgency they played with — whether it was Joe, Eduardo playing with four cotton things in, Toby [Okani] made some big plays.”

Small led West Virginia with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor. He also dished out a team-best seven assists.

“He has carried us all year. He has been terrific. We have asked a lot of him at both ends of the floor. He has to be a scorer and a playmaker for everybody else. And he has to be a defender. He has really rose in big moments for us and tonight was no different.”

Yesufu and Amani Hansberry each scored a dozen points and Jonathan Powell added ten points.

With the win, West Virginia now has six Quad 1 victories in the NCAA NET ratings, an important metric for determining the NCAA Tournament field in 12 days,

“We’ve got a lot on the line for this game and they knew that. It would be easy if you just don’t have it and you are not playing well to give into it. I thought they did a really good job of just staying together in the huddles and continuing to fight and continuing to find ways to make those little plays. It was a huge win for us. There’s no way to diminish what this was for our season right now.”

West Virginia made 14 of 28 shots from the floor in the second half and they went 9 of 11 from the charity stripe.

Utah owned a 40-31 advantage in rebounds and they attempted 32 free throws compared to WVU’s 16. The lead changed hands ten times in the seesaw contest. Madsen led the Utes with 23 points.

Utah was led by longtime WVU assistant coach and former interim head coach Josh Eilert. He was in his third game as Utah’s interim head coach following the dismissal of Craig Smith last week.

“I want to give a lot of credit to Josh,” DeVries said. “The way he has his team ready in a tough situation and they were competing and fighting and they are well-coached right now. He’s doing a really good job in a tough spot. He is one of those good guys in this profession. Tonight, I told him it was a tough loss and I feel bad for him in that regard. But he’s got this team competing right to the end.”

West Virginia returns home to cap their regular season with their sold-out Senior Day matchup against UCF (15-14, 6-12 Big 12) Saturday. Tip time at the Coliseum is set for 5 p.m.