WVU basketball comes from behind to beat Missouri
The WVU basketball team pulled off a thrilling victory in the championship game of the Adovcare Invitational on Sunday.
The Mountaineers trailed by five at halftime and by double digits in the second half before blossoming into a true team and pulling off a nice victory against a solid Missouri team. West Virginia beat Missouri, 83-79, to win the annual tournament held at Disney World.
The game was won thanks to the efforts of West Virginia’s senior leaders, Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles Jr. Carter scored a career-high 29 points to secure the victory. Miles added 26 and the rest of the team stepped up when needed. For the Mountaineers, Wesley Harris added nine points and Teddy Allen scored eight.
Down low, the WVU basketball team were outrebounded 47-31 but still managed to get the job done. West Virginia only scored six second-chance points, compared to 22 by Missouri. The Tigers also scored 22 points in the paint, compared to 16 by the Mountaineers. Even though the WVU basketball team was taken out of its game near the hoop, it still got the job done on defense.
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West Virginia scored 25 points off turnovers. Missouri had 20 turnovers and the Mountaineers took care of the ball turning it over just eight times. Carter and Miles each had four steals as the WVU basketball team created 13 steals in all.
Perhaps the most impressive stat line for the WVU basketball team came off the hands of Miles, who nailed 14 of his 15 free throws. Always a pain for the Mountaineers, the free throws came a little easier against Missouri. The WVU basketball team was 31 of 35 from the line. Ultimately, games are won and lost at the free throw line. In recent years, many of the losses for the WVU basketball team came in its inability to make foul shots. Against Missouri, the comeback was helped by the strong performance at the line.
With the win, West Virginia has now won six in a row after starting the season with a loss. The Mountaineers are 6-1 and still find themselves ranked in the top 25. The loss was Missouri’s second of the year. The Tigers lost to Utah earlier in November but have nice wins against Iowa State and St. Johns.
Next: All-time WVU basketball team
The WVU basketball team is back in action Thursday at home against NJIT. This team is 3-2 on the year and plays LIU Brooklyn this week before traveling to Morgantown.