Last second scramble brings different results for WVU
Excuse senior guard Jevon Carter if during the heat of the moment the last second Oklahoma offensive scramble awoke some memories.
Memories, he’d have rather not recalled.
Two years ago, Carter and his West Virginia teammates were in a similar situation in a tied game with Oklahoma with under ten seconds remaining. It was Carter that had the defensive assignment of Jordan Woodward, but he was able to shake him and get to the basket.
As Woodward broke toward the basket, the ball floated high off the glass only to come off the rim into the waiting hand of Khadeem Latin who tipped the ball in for the eventual game winning score with only 2.8 seconds remaining in the game.
A last second desperation heave would misfire and the Mountaineers would fall 70-68.
Faced with a similar situation leading 75-73 Monday, Oklahoma freshman guard Trae Young was given the ball off a missed free throw and raced into the open court. And again, it was Carter that stepped into the role to cut him off and force a pass.
This time though, the Sooners would miss on a Rashard Odomes attempt with junior Esa Ahmad getting a finger on the ball at the basket and then the loose ball would then be tipped around with timing running out for the Sooners.
“I was trying my best not to foul him,” Ahmad said of his challenge at the rim.
And while this was going on Carter couldn’t help but let his mind drift. But this time was different.
“I kind of saw a little flash of that, once the ball went on the rim and he missed it. We tipped it around and won the game,” Carter said.
Erased were the memories of the pain of what almost was a few years ago, replaced now with the satisfaction of coming out on top and winning in a place that nobody other than Oklahoma has won this entire season.
In fact, the last home loss for the Sooners was last year to West Virginia.
What did head coach Bob Huggins think of the final sequence?
“I was waiting for the horn to go off,” he said.
It was a trademark win for the Mountaineers, surviving a furious rally and a sequence that was oddly familiar to one they faced two years ago. But things changed and Carter was at the center of it all.
Now it’s enough with the past and onto the future.
