West Virginia senior guard Taz Sherman hasn’t missed many free throws this year.

In fact, he’s only misfired on 9 of the 58 he’s attempted, good for third in the entire Big 12 Conference at 84.5-percent on the season. But when he does his thoughts go to his mother, La Trice Scottalbert.

The Mountaineers don’t find a way to beat Iowa State without Sherman’s contributions from the free throw line as he scored the final five points at the line. That included a pair with six seconds left that effectively ended the game by pushing the score to 76-72.

But it wasn’t the success that Sherman was focused on in the post-game. Instead, his mind drifted back to a moment earlier in the half when he missed a free throw with 11:25 left on the clock in a 60-48 game. It was the only attempt of his eight that didn’t go through the net against the Cyclones.

But it was the one that mattered the most.

“My mom is definitely going to text me about that missed free throw,” he said. “She definitely sent me a message and I’m pretty sure I’m going to get one right after this.”

Turns out, Sherman’s premonition was correct.

“He knows me very well. We don’t miss free throws,” she replied.

Sherman has always understood the importance of cashing in at the line. It has been instilled in him and it’s translated at every level of basketball. He shot 80.7-percent in his first year at the junior college level and followed that up shooting 87.5-percent as a sophomore at the stripe.

“I’ve been a pretty good free throw shooter my whole life and especially in junior college. I took I think the most free throws in junior college when I was a sophomore so I’m used to pressure situations at the line,” Sherman said.

The secret for Sherman is to treat every situation the same. Despite, Iowa State trying to freeze him when he stepped to the line late in the game he calmly knocked down both.

“Shoot my same type of shot. I don’t really feel nerves at the free throw line. I just treat it like a mid-game free throw,” Sherman said. “Instead of I have to make this to secure the win.”

The approach and the loving encouragement from his mother have cemented Sherman as one of the most reliable at the line not only on the West Virginia roster but the entire Big 12 Conference as a whole.

And that has caught the eyes of head coach Bob Huggins as well as he realizes that Sherman is who he wants at the line in pressure situations like the one to close out the Cyclones.

“Taz is our best guy under pressure,” he said.

----------

• 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, @JaredSerre

•Like us on Facebook