Edwards enjoys the ride, leaves his mark in final West Virginia home game
The result didn’t end the way that senior center Jesse Edwards wanted it to in his final home game at West Virginia, but he certainly left a strong lasting impression.
Edwards finished with a career-high 36 points on 15-19 shooting to go along with 13 rebounds in the 93-81 losing effort against TCU.
That single game points and rebounds total places him among elite company in program history.
Only four other players have hit at least that mark in a single game, and the list reads Rod Thorn (1), Jerry West (11), Rod Hundley (2) and Mark Workman (5). It hasn’t happened in a game since 1962.
“That’s definitely an honor to be on that list,” Edwards said.
It has been a challenging season for Edwards who missed nine games due to fractured right wrist following the Massachusetts game and it’s taken some time for him to get back to form.
Edwards didn’t want to blame the injury for his struggles shooting the ball but the only downside of his performance against the Horned Frogs was the fact that he hit only 6-18 from the foul line. Had more of those attempts fallen, it could have potentially been a even bigger individual night.
“I don’t want to put it too much on my wrist, it’s not going to be an excuse forever. I didn’t have my best shooting night from the line,” he said.
The scoring output tops his previous high as a Mountaineers with 25 against Cincinnati and is almost night and day compared to the first meeting with TCU where he scored just 6 points and hit just 1-6 from the floor.
Head coach Josh Eilert knew going in that the advantage West Virginia would have was in the paint with Edwards and the Mountaineers weren’t afraid to go to it.
But it was the way that Edwards played that stood to the interim head coach.
“I’ve been challenging him each and every day. His physicality and his balance has to continue to improve to get to the next level and compete at the next level,” Eilert said. “He had that will and desire tonight.”
It certainly hasn’t been the season that Edwards expected when he signed up to play for the Mountaineers after transferring in from Syracuse as they sit just 9-21. But it’s been well documented all of the challenges this team has dealt with outside of just the injury to Edwards.
Overall though it’s still been a rewarding experience for Edwards, and he credits the fanbase.
“Still one of the best years of my life regardless of everything that happened. It was one of the craziest seasons I’ve had in my entire life. I think for most people one of these things that happened normally happens once every ten years, but it happened to us ten times in one season,” Edwards said.
It also made Senior Night even sweeter that the head coach that he initially signed up to play for in Bob Huggins was present after he and several others asked him to be at the pre-game ceremony.
“We’re on good terms and it was nice to us to have him be out there for this night to be full circle,” he said. “I think that was important for us to do that.”
The final game for Edwards inside the Coliseum was one full of mixed emotions both to see his college career close in Morgantown with a loss but still put together a strong individual performance.
But Edwards is hoping that the ride can go a little longer.
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