WVU hooks Horns again 77-62, gets season sweep

No. 12/13 West Virginia (22-6, 10-5) did what it needed to do by completing the season sweep of Texas and beating the Longhorns 77-62 Monday night inside the Coliseum.

The Mountaineers led by as many as 20 points in the second half, but Texas was able to cut into the lead before the lid was closed during the final minutes. West Virginia used a 21-3 run to overcome a sluggish start and never trailed again as the Mountaineers beat Texas for the second time this year.

The game was overshadowed near the end of the first half when head coach Bob Huggins fell to his knees but made his way back to the bench and was able to finish coaching the final moments of the first half and the remainder of the contest.

Redshirt freshman Lamont West scored a career high 23 points off the bench with 20 of those coming in the first half, while junior guard Jevon Carter added 24 points and 10 rebounds. Redshirt junior forward Elijah Macon also finished in double figures with ten points.

The Mountaineers were without the services of sophomore forward Esa Ahmad, so a familiar face slid into the starting lineup in junior guard Daxter Miles as Huggins used a small lineup with three guards in the absence of the lengthy Ahmad.

Texas opened the scoring in the game on an 8-0 run but Macon hit a jumper to end that stretch and put the Mountaineers on the board just over three minutes into the game. The Texas lead would grow to 12-2, before an Adrian three and a Phillip free throw would cut the advantage to six points.

The Longhorns would lead 17-10 at the 11:45 mark of the first half before the Mountaineers would use a 15-0 run over the next three minutes to take a 25-17 lead over Texas with 8:39 left in the half. West would be the catalyst for West Virginia in the run off the bench by scoring 15 points including a four-point play to put the Mountaineers ahead 31-20 with 7:13 remaining.

The advantage would sit at 33-23 with 4:53 to play in the opening frame as the two teams failed to capitalize on opportunities on each end of the floor. West would stretch his point total to 20 after another three-pointer as the Mountaineers built their biggest lead of the first half at 46-30.

And the Mountaineers would take a 46-32 lead into halftime right after a scary moment when Huggins was on his knees on the Coliseum floor before picking himself up onto the bench and then heading into the locker room under his own power.

Huggins would come back out on the floor to start the second half coaching the team and the Mountaineers would respond by pushing the lead out to 49-34 at the 18:28 mark. And West Virginia would continue to keep distance between them and the visitors leading 61-45 with 12:30 left.

Carter would can another three to push the lead out to the biggest of the night at that point at 67-49 as the Mountaineers assumed total control over the Longhorns in the first ten minutes of the second half.

But from there, the Longhorns would use a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to 71-60 with 5:18 left in the game as the Mountaineers bogged down on the offensive end of the floor. But the Mountaineers would survive the push to hold the Longhorns off down the stretch.

The Mountaineers will next travel to TCU Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip off.