West Virginia led by as many as 16-points in the second half but couldn't hold on falling to Cincinnati 90-85 in the Big 12 Conference Tournament Tuesday afternoon.
It was the third meeting between the two teams and just three days after the Bearcats beat the Mountaineers at home by 36-points at 92-56. The Mountaineers won the initial matchup 69-65 in Morgantown Jan. 31 so this served as the rubber match.
West Virginia had five players in double figures with center Jesse Edwards with 17 points, forward Quinn Slazinski with 15 points, guard RaeQuan Battle with 14 points, point guard Kerr Kriisa filled the stat sheet with 13 points, 7 assists and just 2 turnovers and forward Josiah Harris scored 10 points.
The Bearcats would push ahead 10-3 in the early going of the game as the Mountaineers again struggled to stop the Bearcats. West Virginia would then settle in some but Cincinnati would keep their distance leading 16-9 at the 11:51 mark.
West Virginia would cut the edge to just 17-14 at 11 minutes into the first half and would surge ahead 21-19 after a 7-0 run at the 7:20 mark.
the two teams would see saw the lead over the next several minutes as the two teams were deadlocked at 27 all with 4:28 left in the first half.
A Battle three-pointer pushed West Virginia back out front 33-32 with just over two minutes remaining in the half as he started the game 5-9 from the field with 12 points.
After Cincinnati again tied things up, West Virginia would take a 36-33 lead on a Slazinski three-ball giving him 11 points in the first half. And the Mountaineers would take a 38-36 lead into the halftime break as the no. 14 seed shot 52-percent.
West Virginia would stretch their edge out to 48-39 through the first two minutes in the second half with the Mountaineers coming out the gates hot on a 10-3 run. Kriisa was controlling the game by running the offense with 8 points, 7 assists and only 1 turnover as the lead swelled to 52-42 with 16:35 left forcing Cincinnati to take a timeout.
After a layup by Seth Wilson and Kriisa three-ball, the Mountaineers moved ahead 59-44 at the 13:14 mark their largest of the game at that point. After a Josiah Harris three pointer pushed the lead to 62-46, it forced another Bearcats timeout.
The Bearcats would cut the lead in half at 66-58 with 9:24 remaining and Edwards would get a dead ball technical foul to allow Cincinnati to trim it to 66-61 with 9:09 left.
In quick succession, the Bearcats eliminated the 16-point deficit to tie things up at 68. And Cincinnati would complete the comeback on a three-ball to take a 71-70 lead. West Virginia would lead 77-75 with 4:38 left as fouls started to mount for both teams.
The Mountaineers lead would sit at 82-80 with 3:25 left as the two continued to exchange blows down the stretch run of the game. The two teams would exchange the lead down the stretch with Cincinnati holding a 87-84 lead with one minute left.
Trailing 87-85, the Mountaineers couldn't get a stop on the defensive end with Cincinnati hitting a three-pointer with 14.8 left to push their lead to five.
The Mountaineers close the season 9-23 overall.
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