WVU basketball: Carter’s shot a legendary big-play moment
The 2010 season was a magical run for the WVU basketball team. The 2018 campaign may be able to follow suit.
In 2010, the Mountaineers won the Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden and made it all the way to the Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The postseason run of 2018 started in Kansas City and the WVU basketball faithful believe it can end in the Final Four, to be played at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
What helped the WVU basketball team make the historic run in 2010 came off a last-second shot by Da’Sean Butler. From the top of the key as time expired, Butler put off a shot above the outstretched arm of future NBA player Lance Stephenson. It banked off the glass and went in to give the Mountaineers a 54-51 win against Cincinnati.
That win allowed the WVU basketball team to play Notre Dame in the conference semifinals and in the championship against Georgetown. West Virginia won the conference tournament before beating Morgan State, Missouri, Washington and Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament.
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The fantastic run came to an end against Duke in the Final Four, but memories of that season will live on forever. It all started with an awesome shot. An awesome shot, again, helped lift the WVU basketball team this season in the conference tournament.
Right before halftime in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals, West Virginia’s Jevon Carter heaved a shot from mid-court that went in against Baylor. That gave the Mountaineers a much-needed advantage at halftime and they took a 29-23 lead into the locker room. West Virginia trailed by as many as nine points earlier in the half, so Carter’s shot definitely have the WVU basketball team momentum for the rest of the game.
West Virginia beat Baylor, 78-65, and now faces Texas Tech in the Big 12 semifinals. If the last dramatic shot by a WVU basketball team’s senior standout was any indication of things to come, the Mountaineers may be headed back to the Final Four in 2018.
The two moments aren’t directly related, but sometimes it takes unique moments to make improbable things happen. Carter and Butler are two similar players and they both provided a dramatic moment that people will remember for a long time.
Next: All-time WVU basketball team
People will also remember the collective careers of these two wonderful players. Butler is still commended for the contributions he made to the program and Carter plays each game like it’s his last as a way to cement his legacy. Carter definitely wants that eventual last game to end in San Antonio.