West Virginia (5-0) handed Northern Iowa (6-1) its first loss of the season during the Cancun Challenge Tuesday night, defeating the Panthers by a score of 60-55 in Riviera Maya, Mexico.
The Mountaineers erased a 15-point deficit during the second half to remain unbeaten and advance to the championship game.
Oscar Tshiebwe got West Virginia on the board first with a layup, but Northern Iowa would score seven straight points to take a five-point lead.
Jordan McCabe made a jump shot to end the Panthers’ 7-0 run and Miles McBride added a jumper of his own to narrow the Northern Iowa lead down to a point. The Mountaineers later took the lead after a breakaway dunk from Tshiebwe after he recorded a steal.
Back-to-back baskets from Isaiah Brown gave Northern Iowa an 11-8 lead, but West Virginia would tie the game up with a three-pointer from Sean McNeil.
The Panthers went on another 7-0 run to take an 18-11 lead as West Virginia struggled to get shots and free throws to fall in.
A free throw from Derek Culver and jump shot from Jermaine Haley brought the Mountaineers to within four points at 18-14 with 3:32 left in the first half.
From there, the two teams would go back-and-forth and the Panthers would go on to take a 23-20 lead going into halftime.
Halftime Stats:
Like the first half, Tshiebwe got the scoring started with a layup which cut Northern Iowa’s lead down to a point. But the Panthers were quick to respond, going on a 6-0 run to take a 29-22 lead over the Mountaineers at the 18:25 mark.
West Virginia’s offensive struggles continued and Northern Iowa would later go on to take a double-digit lead at 37-24 with 14:54 to go.
Northern Iowa continued to maintain its double-digit lead over the next few minutes as the Mountaineers trailed, 46-33, with 9:08 left to play. But West Virginia was able to narrow the Northern Iowa lead down to nine points with jumpers from Haley and McBride.
McNeil would then hit a three-pointer to bring the Mountaineers to within six points of the Panthers at 46-40.
After a pair of free throws from Spencer Haldeman which extended Northern Iowa’s lead to eight points, that lead was cut down to four after back-to-back jumpers from McBride.
Two more Northern Iowa free throws followed, but West Virginia continued to rally and took a 51-50 lead with 2:41 remaining thanks to a 7-0 run.
Trae Berhow answered back with a three-pointer to give Northern Iowa a two-point lead, but the game was tied up again after two free throws from Culver. The Panthers would again take a two-point lead with a basket from Justin Dahl with less than two minutes remaining.
Emmitt Matthews was fouled with 1:03 remaining in the game and the sophomore would make 1-of-2 at the line. This put the score at 55-54 in favor of Northern Iowa.
After a block, West Virginia got the ball back and called a timeout with 26 seconds remaining. The Mountaineers took a one-point lead with a put back from Matthews. He was fouled and hit the floor hard after the basket.
A flagrant one foul was called and Sean McNeil shot the free throws in place of Matthews, who exited the game. McNeil made one of two free throws which gave the Mountaineers a 57-55 lead.
The Mountaineers also got the ball and extended their lead to three points after McBride made one of two free throws after getting fouled. West Virginia then got a defensive stop and McBride sealed the comeback win with two more free throws.
West Virginia will face Wichita State in the championship game Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Final Stats:
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