West Virginia led by 12 in the first half before they trailed by 11 in the second half. Javon Small did everything he could to try and lift the Mountaineers late, but it wasn't enough, as TCU held on for a 65-60 win.
Small scored 20 points, including 10 points in the final 6:34, but it wasn't enough. TCU shot 23 free throws, making 20 of them, while WVU had only five free throw attempts, as the Horned Frogs earned their second straight win.
Entering Wednesday night, it was expected to be a defensive slugfest.
West Virginia and TCU both came into their first of two matchups of the season in a similar spot. Both teams have struggled offensively this year, while both also presented good defenses.
Those trends stayed true for the majority of TCU’s win, especially early.
Within the first four minutes of the game, there were a combined seven turnovers, while the two teams went a combined 3-for-9 from the field, as WVU led 6-2.
The Mountaineers went on a 10-0 run after they trailed by two early, leading 10-2, but that lead quickly went to 10-7. West Virginia’s largest lead of the game came in the first half as the Mountaineers were turning TCU over and taking advantage of it. West Virginia led by 12 with 6:08 to play, but it was downhill from there.
TCU closed the first half on a 15-4 run, as WVU couldn’t find the same success on defense it had early on. West Virginia forced 10 first-half turnovers, leading to 16 Mountaineer points. However, none of those came over the final 7:56, as TCU made its run to get back into the game.
West Virginia’s 12-point lead quickly turned to a 29-28 halftime lead as WVU started 8-for-16 from the field but finished the half 12-for-31 from the field. In addition, TCU scored six first-half points at the free throw line, a trend that continued into the second half.
TCU started the second half on a 6-0 run, with three of those points coming from the charity stripe. WVU’s first score came at the 15:47 mark as TCU led 35-31. TCU’s lead extended to 10 points and then would get to 11 with 7:56 to play, forcing a West Virginia timeout. TCU scored seven points at the free throw line in the first 12 minutes of the second half, as they entered the game as the second-worst free throw shooting team in the Big 12.
Trailing by 11, West Virginia would not go away quietly. West Virginia went on a 10-0 run, with Javon Small, the Big 12's leading scorer, scoring eight of those points, including a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to cut WVU's deficit to one and force a TCU timeout with 4:36 to play.
Out of the timeout, the Mountaineers would give up two more free throws on the defensive end but then answered back as Small dished it to Jonathan Powell, who swished a 3-pointer of his own, after he missed his first seven shots from the field, including six 3-pointers, tying the game at 56-56.
Out of the timeout, Toby Okani grabbed an offensive rebound but got fouled on the putback attempt. He would miss both free throws, however, before Jace Posey made two for TCU as he was fouled on his drive.
Small would then take matters into his own hands — again — as he converted a steal and score to tie the game at 58-58, forcing a TCU timeout with 1:16 to play. Vasean Allette then converted an and-one with 1:02 to play, putting TCU back in front by three.
Small would then try to be the hero again, but this time came up short, as he missed a 3-pointer, and then as WVU tried to get the offensive rebound, they stepped out of bounds.
West Virginia would get the stop they needed, but couldn't secure the rebound, as Allette got the offensive rebound for the Horned Frogs and then scored the easy layup, putting TCU in front by five.
----------
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan, @wesleyshoe
