WVU beats No. 14 TCU at home for first league win 74-65
West Virginia defeated number 14 ranked TCU 74-65 to continue their undefeated run against the Horned Frogs all-time at home, while also breaking their five game losing streak and winning their first league matchup.
Erik Stevenson got the first points of the day for West Virginia, hitting a long step back two to tie the game.
The Mountaineers drew two offensive fouls in the first three minutes and after the second, Stevenson connected on a deep three to take a five point lead. He scored seven of WVU’s first 11 points to get off to a hot start.
Keddy Johnson grabbed a steal and pushed it up the court to Stevenson who finished off the play by finding Mo Wague in transition. Stevenson then got a steal of his own and hit Emmitt Matthews for an alley-oop slam on the fast break, forcing TCU to call timeout. This extended the WVU lead to eight, at 15-7.
Joe Toussaint subbed in after the timeout and immediately drew an offensive foul, the third on TCU thus far.
Tre Mitchell drew a foul to get the Mountaineers into the bonus early, with over 12 minutes remaining in the first half.
Jimmy Bell grabbed an offensive board off of a miss in transition, following another steal by Keddy Johnson, and put it back in to bring the score to 20-7 in favor of the Mountaineers. This forced another timeout from TCU and cheers from an excited home stadium.
TCU finally broke their scoring slump with a layup following the timeout, but their bench was called for a technical foul immediately after to counteract the points.
The Mountaineers controlled the game for the remainder of the half to enter the second with a 15 point lead, after holding the Horned Frogs to just 24 first half points.
Stevenson got the second half started on the defensive end, taking a charge on the first possession on the half. He would score the first bucket of the second half for West Virginia as well. Less than 30 seconds later, Emmitt Matthews put in a deep ball for three more.
After five minutes of play, the lead was reduced to 11, but Tre Mitchell put in a three just seconds later to extend it once again. Keddy Johnson then got a tough bucket of his own in traffic.
A Joe Toussaint three pointer, his first made shot of the night, got the lead up to 17 and TCU took their first timeout of the half following the big shot.
After a steal by Jimmy Bell on an inbounds pass, he slammed down a putback dunk at the other end to put the lead back to 17.
By the nine minute mark, the lead had slipped down to nine, but Keddy Johnson broke his defender's ankles and hit the pull-up jumper to extend it back to double digits. He would then take a charge at the other end.
With seven and a half to go, Tre Mitchell fouled out after being called for a technical foul. TCU hit both free throws to close the game to six, but Joe Toussaint took a charge to make it an empty possession. He then found Emmitt Matthews for a two hand slam at the other end.
TCU’s Mike Miles responded with an and-1 three to get within four.
Despite the second half push from the Horned Frogs, West Virginia was able to escape with the 74-65 win to break their five game losing streak.
The Mountaineers will next face a top 10 team in the Texas Longhorns on Saturday, January 21.