WVU Basketball: ‘Eers Stumble Late, Sent Home By No. 1 Gonzaga
By Phil Poling
The WVU basketball team failed to get a decent look in the waning seconds of Thursday’s Sweet 16 match-up with Gonzaga, resulting in a 61-58 defeat and the end to their season.
Don’t let the high(low?)light of the final play be your only Mountaineer memory from this season, though. West Virginia wasn’t even supposed to make it this far. They were supposed to just roll over and quit when they saw the big, bad Gonzaga Bulldogs in their way. Yeah, right.
We mentioned three areas of importance West Virginia needed to excel at to come out victorious: shooting, defense and rebounding.
In the 1st half, the ‘Eers were 7-for-31 (22 percent) from the field and only 1-for-11 (9.1 percent) from 3-point range. We shouldn’t have expected perfection, but to shoot this poor was extremely frustrating. Half of their points in the 1st half came from the free throw line (15-20), but WVU did damage on the glass to help stay afloat.
The Mountaineers grabbed 25 rebounds in the 1st half, 11 on the offensive end. Did I mention that was just the 1st half? Most teams don’t have double-digit offensive rebounding numbers for an entire game. West Virginia did it in the 1st half. They did it as a unit, too. Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles, Jr. each grabbed three. Elijah Macon and Nathan Adrian combined for three as well. Brandon Watkins hauled in two off the bench and made both of his free throw attempts; he also blocked two shots in the 1st half.
Carter scored seven points in his 19 1st half minutes, but shot just 1-for-5 from the field. Combined with Miles, Jr., the WVU starting backcourt was 2-11 at the half.
WVU did all they could defensively to go into the half tied at 30. Gonzaga committed seven turnovers, but few came on live-ball situations – meaning play stopped and Gonzaga could set up their defense. Gonzaga only shot 37.5 percent (9-24) in the 1st half, but Johnathan Williams was a perfect 4-for-4 and scored 11 points. Fouls played a key role in the 1st too, where six Bulldogs and four Mountaineers collected at least two.
This game will jump to the forefront when people discuss the best of the tournament, thanks to an exhaustively exhilarating 2nd half. Sophomore Esa Ahmad opened with an aggressive approach on offense that saw him garner six 2nd half attempts from the free throw line. He was 7-for-8 for the game, but only made one shot from the floor resulting in nine points for the night. Ahmad pulled down an offensive rebound, but that’s the end of his boxscore. Zero steals, zero blocks. The lone offensive rebound. He committed five of the team’s 13 turnovers, too.
Gonzaga made feeding big man Przemek Karnowski a priority in the 2nd half. After just four points in the 1st, Karnowski scored nine after the break. I understand Karnoswki’s from Poland, a land far, far away from the US of A; just because he was born halfway across the globe doesn’t mean he should get away with traveling violations, though – right? You heard it multiple times during the broadcast, “Karnowski has great feet for a big guy.” Chris Webber raved about Karnowski’s up-and-under too – it was a walk. Webber did have a nice sound-bite after WVU freshman Sagabe Konate made a stellar defensive play.
What a block! That’s what I’m talking about,” shouted an amped-up C-Webb. “Can’t treat that like no regular highlight!”
Konate’s block (LOOK AT THAT PHOTO!) happened with just under 10 minutes to go and jump started the ‘Eers, trailing 47-43 at the time.
Macon crashed the offensive glass on the next possession and found an open Carter for the deuce. This set up the vaunted press. Gonzaga didn’t handle the next few possessions like a No. 1 seed, either.
Nigel Williams-Goss committed an offensive foul, his 3rd of the game, resulting in Ahmad’s free throws to tie things up. Gonzaga turned it over again, but Ahmad would miss a jumper the next time. Williams-Goss, frustrated with the pressure all game, committed another offensive foul when he threw Miles, Jr. to the ground.
“They do not give up! They do not rest,” Webber screamed during the broadcast as the Mountaineers hustled their way into unforeseeable spots.
Teyvon Myers gave the team a boost off the bench, grabbing an offensive rebound that got Konate a dunk. At 49-47, WVU had the lead and – finally, what seemed like momentum. Karnowski however, weathered the storm with a silky smooth jumper from the free throw line.
It’s not typical for a conference’s defensive player of the year to put the team’s offense on his back, but Carter gave the best effort imaginable. He was the only Mountaineer in double figures with 21 points, and you could see this performance coming. With 12:57 remaining, Carter made a step-back three after watching his team go scoreless for nearly four minutes. You could just see it in his bounce, though: he wasn’t done. On the next offensive possession he missed a three, but would get as many on the following possession the old-fashioned way. After a few size-up dribbles, Carter blew past Williams-Goss and forced up a shot. He slipped. He was fouled. But he also made the shot. This was part of a 9-point solo-run for Carter, and the ‘Eers needed every bit of it.
With just under two minutes to go, the officials decided against West Virginia and Carter getting too comfortable. As he drove the right side, Carter bounced a pass to a cutting Adrian who couldn’t quite get the handle. The ball took another bounce toward the baseline and an outstretched Adrian tossed it back in play. “Out of bounds on WVU. Gonzaga ball,” was the call on the floor. Luckily, officials can review blown calls under two minutes. After way too much debate and figuring out how to tell everyone watching they just missed an obvious call, the officials made right by giving the ‘Eers possession. This wouldn’t have happened if it came a second sooner, though; the only reason the call was changed was because it happened under two minutes. 1:59 was on the clock.
Carter hit a three to put WVU up 58-55 following the correction, but it would be WVU’s final points of the season.
Costly turnovers. Missed free throws down the stretch. Poor execution on the final possession. All these factors attributed to the loss, but none outweigh the others. This West Virginia basketball team was one of my favorites in recent Mountaineer history. It’s a shame their season ended the way it did. There was no quit in this group, though, and for that, we should all be appreciative.