WVU battles back, but falls to Temple 81-77
No. 19 West Virginia (4-1) battled back from a 20-point halftime deficit to fell just short to Temple 81-77 in the NIT Season Tipoff Championship Game Friday afternoon.
West Virginia was led in scoring by sophomore Esa Ahmad with 19 points, 17 in the second half, while senior guard Teyvon Myers added 15 points, senior Nathan Adrian added 13 points and junior Tarik Phillip had 13 points.
It was a tale of two halves as West Virginia trailed 45-25 at the break, but rallied in large part due to forcing 11 turnovers after only eight in the first half. West Virginia actually held a three-point lead but couldn't hold onto it.
West Virginia started the game on a 7-0 run, but Temple responded with a 13-0 run of their own to take the lead. And after that Temple would take control in the first half as Obi Enechionyia took over the first half with 18 points as the Owls were able to seize control after the hot start.
From there, the Owls were able to frustrate the Mountaineers in the half court forcing 11 turnovers in the first half while shooting 58-percent from the field to take a 45-25 lead at the half. In total, the Mountaineers only turned the ball over six times against Illinois.
That was compared to Temple, who only turned the ball over eight times in the first half and doubled the Mountaineers up in total points off turnovers at 16-8.
But the second half would be a different story as the Mountaineers pressure defense flustered Temple.
West Virginia opened the second half with more energy on the defensive end but couldn’t initially translate that into points trimming just two points off the Owls halftime lead two minutes into the second half. However, the Mountaineers kept forcing the issue on the defensive end forcing six turnovers in the first four minutes of the half to cut the Temple lead down to 13 points.
The Temple advantage would sit at 60-52 at the 11:31 mark as the press continued to be much more effective in the second half and cut 12 points off the Owls halftime lead. And after an 18-4 run the game was tied at 62-all as the Mountaineers dominated on both ends of the floor.
Ahmad took control for periods during the run pouring in 13 points after scoring only two in the first.
The Mountaineers would seize their first lead since 7-6 in the first half after a Phillip free throw to put the score at 65-64 with 7:49 left to play in the game. However, the Owls would recapture the lead from the free throw line and the Mountaineers continued to squander opportunities.
The narrow Temple lead would continue to see-saw but the Mountaineers were able to trim the advantage to 78-77 with 52.6 remaining in the game. And then trailing 80-77 on the final possession, West Virginia couldn't covert losing to the Owls.