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Chaotic.
That’s the one word West Virginia junior guard James “Beetle” Bolden used to describe the scene inside the WVU Coliseum following the team’s thrilling 65-64 upset win over No. 7 Kansas.
A finish that saw the Mountaineers hold Kansas scoreless for the final 2:35 of the game and Jermaine Haley score the winning basket with seven seconds left most likely wouldn’t have happened without Bolden which could’ve been the case.
However, there seems to be very little that can stop Bolden from playing in a game.
Saturday’s game against Kansas was nothing new for the Kentucky native, whose been banged up all year and was dealing with an illness prior to the game.
Bolden wound up taking himself out of pregame warmups, but with the help of the team’s trainers and his toughness, Bolden was able to power through and ended up coming off the bench for the Mountaineers.
“He was throwing up before the game; they were giving him IV’s, the whole deal. I knew he’d (play),” head coach Bob Huggins said. “That’s Beetle. Beetle is going to play. Beetle said he’s sat on the bench enough. He’s going to play. I didn’t have any doubt he’d play. I didn’t know how well he’d play, but I knew he’d try to play.”
Whether it was the flu or a basic cold, Bolden himself wasn’t sure what exactly he had, but knew near the end of pregame that he’d be playing.
“I don’t know what it is, I just didn’t feel right,” Bolden said. “I got a few IV’s in me and I felt better. About 10 minutes on the clock, I knew I was ready to go.”
“I was real sick. I could barely run without feeling dizzy. Our training staff did a terrific job of getting me ready,” he added.
Bolden had a key performance during the upset win on both ends of the floor, coming up with a team-high four steals and scoring 12 points which were the second-most on the team behind Haley’s 13. The junior has now scored 58 points in the past three games combined.
But if you ask Bolden, it wasn’t him coming through for the team personally that helped the Mountaineers get the victory but rather the team itself coming through for each other.
“I wouldn’t say I came up big personally, we came up big collectively as a group, as a unit,” Bolden said. “We all contributed to key stops, key rebounds and made some tough shots. We all did.”
The win over Kansas culminated not only a rough season for the Mountaineers up to this point but also a frustrating year in conference play that has seen West Virginia struggle to close out games and/or take control in the second half.
On Saturday, the team rose up to the challenge not only with Bolden’s help, but with the assistance of just about everyone whether it was Esa Ahmad hitting a couple of critical three-pointers, Chase Harler hustling on defense, Derek Culver crashing the boards or Haley driving in the lane, most players on the team fulfilled their role for the greater good which was a big conference win, the team’s first of the season.
Bolden’s toughness and determination hasn’t gone unnoticed by his teammates whether it’s at practice or in games.
“He’s tough as nails,” Culver said. “When it comes to toughness and fighting through pain and adversity, the kid from Covington (Kentucky) is the one that you look at. I’ve just seen Beetle go full speed and hit his head off a bleacher in practice and get up and smile. I’ve never seen nobody do anything like it. You’ll be surprised at what Beetle does.”
After Saturday’s win over Kansas, no one will question Bolden’s toughness as it is and always will be who he is.
“I just try to fight through everything. It’s just me. It’s just who I am,” Bolden said. “I’m a warrior. If I can provide for my team any kind of way, I’m looking to do that.”
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