WVU outlasts TCU 82-70

No. 7 West Virginia (13-2, 2-1) had to battle for much of the game but the Mountaineers used a late run to defeat TCU 82-70 Saturday afternoon inside the Coliseum.

Bouncing back after Tuesday's overtime defeat to Texas Tech, the Mountaineers forced 17 TCU turnovers and took advantage of a late 9-0 run to seize control for good.

The Mountaineers were led in scoring by junior guard Daxter Miles with 22 points and 7 rebounds, while sophomore forward Esa Ahmad scored 16 points, junior guard Jevon Carter 13 points and freshman forward Sagaba Konate 13 points and 8 rebounds.

Miles kicked off the scoring on a jumper a little over a minute into the game and Ahmad would contribute with a floater to give the Mountaineers an early 4-0 lead. The pressure was effective early in the game forcing three Horned Frogs turnovers as the advantage was at 7-3 at the 15:58 mark.

Ahmad would score his sixth point of the half to put the score 11-7 with under 14 minutes left in the half as West Virginia rotated multiple players into the game in the early going to find the right mix.

TCU would score consecutive baskets to nod the game up at 11, but a Miles three-pointer would push the Mountaineers back out front 14-11 with under 11 minutes to play in the first half. Over a stretch in the first half, Miles scored 11 of the first 19 points for West Virginia.

West Virginia would use a 7-0 run to take its biggest lead of the first half at the 6:59 mark when the Mountaineers pushed the advantage to 26-18 with 6:58 left before halftime. That lead would swell to 35-23 at the two-minute mark as the press proved much more effective than it was a few days ago against Texas Tech with West Virginia turning 11 turnovers into 18 points.

The Mountaineers would carry a 39-28 lead into halftime with Ahmad at 12 points and Miles with 11 points serving as the two leading scorers for West Virginia.

The Horned Frogs would open the second half on a 7-0 run to cut into the Mountaineers lead but a Brandon Watkins basket would stop the bleeding and put the home team back up 41-35.

After Miles would respond again with a couple baskets, the lead would head back into double digits at 49-39 but the Horned Frogs continued to battle the Mountaineers. That fight would trim the lead back down to 55-51 with 11:10 to play in the second half as TCU continued to attack.

The game would sit at 57-all with under ten minutes to play in the game as the Mountaineers struggled to take care of the basketball while TCU was much more effective breaking the pressure. West Virginia would wrestle away a 64-59 advantage with 7:16 left as the game continued to stay tight.

A Carter three would put the score at 68-61 with just over five minutes left but the Horned Frogs refused to relent and continued to chip away at the Mountaineers lead. Two more Carter threes, along with a Konate tip in, would make the score 76-65 with 2:24 left as the late run gave the Mountaineers momentum down the stretch.

And from there the Mountaineers would grind out the Big 12 conference win.

The Mountaineers will now play host to a Baylor team that could be ranked as the nation’s top team Tuesday at 7 p.m. inside the Coliseum.