Monday, February 27, 2006
Mountaineers Hold Off Louisville
The Mountaineers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 68-64 victory over Louisville Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
But the win over the Cardinals (17-10/5-9) certainly wasn’t easy, as West Virginia had to fight off a 25-point effort from U of L guard Taquan Dean. Kevin Pittsnogle countered with 21 for WVU. Mike Gansey and J.D. Collins added 17 and 13 points respectively for the Mountaineers. It was Collins whose two free throws with four seconds left which finally sealed the win for West Virginia (19-8/10-4).
The Mountaineers will play their final home game of the regular season on Monday, when they host the Pitt Panthers. Obviously the BasketBrawl will be the last home game for WVU seniors Jo Herber, Patrick Beilein, Kevin Pittsnogle, J.D. Collins and Mike Gansey. It will also have major implications in terms of West Virginia’s Big East seeding. Pitt entered the weekend tied with WVU for third place in the Big East, as both sported 9-4 records. The Panthers defeated West Virginia in Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago, but if the Mountaineers can return the favor Monday night at the Coliseum, WVU will lock up at least third place in the Big East – and thus a first-round bye in the league tournament – because then West Virginia will have the tie-breaker in its favor.
A loss to Louisville on Saturday would have been devastating in the Mountaineers’ aim for a top four Big East finish, which would be WVU’s highest ever in its 11 years in the league. Though West Virginia still wasn’t hitting from the outside (eight of 31 from three-point range) Saturday, it started to find room inside the Cardinal zone midway through the first half and opened up a 21-12 lead. U of L, on the strength of four straight three-point field goals of its own in the final four minutes, rallied to tie the game at 31-31 at the half.
Louisville moved out to a 37-33 lead in the opening minutes of the second half, but a Collins three-pointer at the 13:30 mark gave WVU a 44-42 lead, and while it would be close the rest of the way, West Virginia would never trail again.
The Mountaineer may not have been accurate, but they were efficient, committing just seven turnovers for the game and only two in the second half.
Dean only got minimal help on the Cardinals’ end. Juan Palacios did finish with a double-double (14 points and 11 rebounds), but no other Card had more than seven.
But the win over the Cardinals (17-10/5-9) certainly wasn’t easy, as West Virginia had to fight off a 25-point effort from U of L guard Taquan Dean. Kevin Pittsnogle countered with 21 for WVU. Mike Gansey and J.D. Collins added 17 and 13 points respectively for the Mountaineers. It was Collins whose two free throws with four seconds left which finally sealed the win for West Virginia (19-8/10-4).
The Mountaineers will play their final home game of the regular season on Monday, when they host the Pitt Panthers. Obviously the BasketBrawl will be the last home game for WVU seniors Jo Herber, Patrick Beilein, Kevin Pittsnogle, J.D. Collins and Mike Gansey. It will also have major implications in terms of West Virginia’s Big East seeding. Pitt entered the weekend tied with WVU for third place in the Big East, as both sported 9-4 records. The Panthers defeated West Virginia in Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago, but if the Mountaineers can return the favor Monday night at the Coliseum, WVU will lock up at least third place in the Big East – and thus a first-round bye in the league tournament – because then West Virginia will have the tie-breaker in its favor.
A loss to Louisville on Saturday would have been devastating in the Mountaineers’ aim for a top four Big East finish, which would be WVU’s highest ever in its 11 years in the league. Though West Virginia still wasn’t hitting from the outside (eight of 31 from three-point range) Saturday, it started to find room inside the Cardinal zone midway through the first half and opened up a 21-12 lead. U of L, on the strength of four straight three-point field goals of its own in the final four minutes, rallied to tie the game at 31-31 at the half.
Louisville moved out to a 37-33 lead in the opening minutes of the second half, but a Collins three-pointer at the 13:30 mark gave WVU a 44-42 lead, and while it would be close the rest of the way, West Virginia would never trail again.
The Mountaineer may not have been accurate, but they were efficient, committing just seven turnovers for the game and only two in the second half.
Dean only got minimal help on the Cardinals’ end. Juan Palacios did finish with a double-double (14 points and 11 rebounds), but no other Card had more than seven.
