WVU holds on at Texas 74-72
It wasn't pretty but No. 10 West Virginia (15-2, 4-1) survived on the road against Texas beating the Longhorns 74-72 Saturday afternoon.
Senior guard Teyvon Myers scored a career high 16 points and senior guard Tarik Phillip added 14 points for the Mountaineers. Junior guard Jevon Carter also was in double figures with 15 points.
West Virginia forced 19 Texas turnovers, but also turned the ball over 15 times themselves as the Mountaineers looked sloppy for large portions of the game.
Texas scored the first basket of the game taking an early advantage but the Mountaineers would respond with a three by Adrian to take the lead back almost two minutes into the game. The score would sit at 8-7 at the 16:10 mark as the two teams exchanged baskets in the opening minutes.
The Mountaineers would trail 14-12 at the 11:55 mark as West Virginia struggled to on the offensive end, while the Longhorns did a good job handling the defensive pressure early. The Longhorns would push the lead out to 21-14 as Texas was able to connect on some outside shots and keep the Mountaineers off balance on the offensive end.
Myers would end a drought where the Mountaineers hit only 2-11 shots with a three pointer and a layup to quickly cut into the Longhorns lead and make it a 21-19 game with 6:36 left in the first half. West Virginia would still trail by a pair at 29-27 at the 3:41 mark as the Mountaineers continued to settle on three-pointers in the half court but connected on only 4-13 attempts to that point.
The game would be tied at 31-all with two minutes left in the first half and then West Virginia would recapture the lead on a pair of baskets to move ahead 35-31. West Virginia would take a 39-34 lead into the break despite struggling for stretches on both ends of the floor with a 12-0 run.
The second half would open with the Longhorns scoring, but Ahmad would connect on a free throw to put the score at 40-36 in the opening minute. Texas would retake the lead at 41-40 as West Virginia continued to struggle to generate offense in the half court against the Longhorns.
The Mountaineers opened the second half with sloppy play turning the ball over five times in the first five minutes of the frame allowing Texas to take a 46-41 advantage. The struggles continued as the clock approached the mid-way point as West Virginia has more turnovers at 15 than the 14 Texas had.
After pushing the lead back out to 53-47, the Mountaineers would score seven straight to take the lead back at 54-53 at the 9:31 mark of the second half. Phillip was a big part of that run as the senior poured in nine points in the first ten minutes of the second half after scoring only five in the first half.
The Mountaineers would take a 65-60 lead with 3:52 remaining in the second half, as the Mountaineers were able to convert on their opportunities from the free throw line.
Texas would score five points quickly to cut the lead down to 66-65, but Phillip would answer again with a jumper to push the advantage back out to 68-65 with just over two minutes left.
The Longhorns would make it 70-68, but a big offensive rebound by Nathan Adrian put him at the line to extend the lead to 72-68 with 37 seconds left in the game. After another Longhorns basket, Carter would make two more free throws to keep the lead at four points with only 21 seconds left in the game.
After a missed three-pointer, Phillip would rebound the ball but he would miss both free throws and the Mountaineers would hold on to win 74-72.
West Virginia will now return home to host Oklahoma with tip off set for 7 p.m. Wednesday.