WVU falls to Gonzaga 61-58 in the Sweet 16
No. 4 seed West Virginia (28-9) led late but couldn't hold onto it falling to Gonzaga 61-58 in the Sweet 16 in San Jose Thursday night.
The Mountaineers had an opportunity to tie the game but missed two opportunities and didn't get a final shot off against the Bulldogs defense. Gonzaga held the Mountaineers to 27-percent from the field but West Virginia outrebounded the Bulldogs 41-34 including 20 offensive boards.
The only West Virginia player in double figures was junior guard Jevon Carter with 21 points, who kept the Mountaineers afloat early in the second half.
Gonzaga was first on the board with an uncontested layup and stretched the early lead to 5-0, but the Mountaineers would get on the board with four free throws to cut the deficit to one early.
The Mountaineers started 1-6 from the field as Gonzaga seized an early 10-6 lead as West Virginia started the game sloppy with unforced errors on the offensive end.
Gonzaga would sit with a 16-13 lead at the 10-minute mark as the two teams struggled to score the ball in the half court against one another. Despite shooting just 28-percent from the field, the Mountaineers only trailed 21-18 in large part because of free throws and their own half-court defense.
West Virginia would tie the game at 22-all with under five minutes left in the half as the game took on the same frenetic pace that the Mountaineers thrive upon in the first half. Still, Gonzaga would create problems for West Virginia with their length in the half court holding them to 6-23 from the field. A big reason for that was the propensity for hitting the offensive glass as West Virginia hauled in nine offensive rebounds at the 2:51 mark to create more opportunities for the offense.
The Mountaineers would briefly take a two points advantage, but six straight points for Gonzaga would put them ahead 30-26 with just over a minute left in the first half. And over that period, West Virginia would score four-straight of its own to put the game at 30-all entering the half.
Both teams went over three minutes without scoring during the final stretch of the first half.
Gonzaga would again open with the half with a basket, as the two teams struggled to find offense with foul trouble mounting on both sides. After back to back three-pointers, Gonzaga would open its largest lead of the game at 41-34 at the 16:52 mark of the second half.
The Zags lead would sit at 45-37, the largest deficit of the tournament for West Virginia, at the 13:50 mark as the Bulldogs challenged every shot in the half court leading the Mountaineers to 9-38 from the field at that stage of the game.
But Carter would answer scoring nine straight to cut the deficit to 45-43 at the 11:28 mark of the second half as the Mountaineers refused to go away. West Virginia would tie the game at 47-all with 8:36 left in the game and take the lead on the following possession.
West Virginia would take a 52-49 lead with 5:53 left in the game as the Mountaineers started to frustrate the Bulldogs on the defensive end of the floor. That advantage wouldn’t last long as the Zags would knot the game at 52-all with 3:50 remaining as the Mountaineers took a timeout.
Gonzaga would seize a 55-52 lead, before the Mountaineers would answer with a three-pointer from Daxter Miles to nod the game with 2:22 left. And after a timeout, the Mountaineers would get the benefit of a review that was originally called Gonzaga's ball to hit a three pointer to take a 58-55 lead with under two minutes left.
But West Virginia would fail to convert free thows leading to a Gonzaga three-pointer trailing by one to put the Bulldogs back out front 60-58 with 52 seconds left. The Bulldogs would push the lead to three points and the Mountaineers last attempts fell short as the season would end for West Virginia 61-58.