WVU basketball featured on SVP’s Bad Beats

It’s evident that the West Virginia basketball team has moved on from its thrilling win over Texas Tech last Saturday.

Some gambling addicts may still be fuming over it.

The Mountaineers came into the road game in Lubbock as a 3.5 favorite over the homestanding Red Raiders. With under a minute left, and Texas Tech leading by two points, it certainly looked like it would cover the spread.

WVU’s Tarik Phillip had other ideas. And now, ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt is laughing at the prohibitive gamblers’ misfortune.

He regularly hosts a segment call “Bad Beats’ detailing the world of gambling in terms of point spread and over/under estimates. In the five-minute segment, Van Pelt usually breaks down several games.

In an unprecedented move, he chose to only talk about the Texas Tech-West Virginia game.

"“Tonight’s the night when we when all the awards and take this segment to the next level,” Van Pelt said. “There were a ton of bad beats this weekend, but rather than mess around with a bunch, we’re going to take a deep dive on one. It involves a Top 10 team that goes on a late run and there is carnage in Lubbock, Texas.”"

It’s carnage caused by the Mountaineers and Phillip.

Van Pelt breaks down a video that starts with only 59 seconds left in the second half, with Texas Tech leading the Mountaineers, 76-72.

With 52 seconds left, Phillip drains a 3-pointer to close the gap to just one point.

On the other end, Phillip steals the ball in the paint from Aaron Ross of Texas Tech. He takes it coast-to-coast for a lay up. He converts the contest shot and draws a foul with just 24 seconds remaining in regulation.

Now, the Mountaineers are up, 78-76.

But, Phillip misses the ensuing free throw attempt. That gives the Red Raiders the ball with 21 seconds left.

With 11 seconds on the clock, Texas Tech attempts a deep 3-pointer, way beyond NBA range, and misses it. The rebound comes to the Red Raiders, then Van Pelt stops the tape.

At this point, Van Pelt points out that the Red Raiders have still covered if the game were to end at that point.

However, there are still eight seconds remaining.

“What could possibly go wrong?” Van Pelt redundantly asks.

The player who rebounded the ball looks to the top of the key and heaves it to a semi-open player with five seconds left. Immediately, three WVU basketball players swarm what is a loose ball.

Daxter Miles comes up with it at half court and flips it ahead to Phillip with two seconds left. Phillip takes one dribble and slams it home as time expires.

Van Pelt is flabbergasted. Likely, so was Red Raiders coach Tubby Smith. Along with the hundreds of thousands who had money riding on the game.

Now, Phillip could have dribbled outside the key and let time run off the clock. But, his momentum was already taking him to the basket.

With a slam dunk as time expired, the Mountaineers went up by four points and knocked off the Red Raiders, 80-76. What’s even more funny, to Van Pelt especially, is that WVU did not have that big of a lead for any of the second half.

It’s just another bizarre moment in college sports. Thanks to ESPN and Van Pelt for taking time to showcase to the nation the never-say-never attitude of this year’s WVU basketball squad.