Comeback Kids
December 29, 2002 11:01 PM | General
December 29, 2002
LAS VEGAS – West Virginia coach John Beilein learned a little bit about his young basketball team Sunday night.
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| West Virginia guard Joe Herber is holds on to the basket as Gardner-Webb's Andre Manning tries to poke it away during Sunday's game. (AP photo) |
Trailing Gardner-Webb by five with 9:30 left in the game, West Virginia could have folded its tent and packed it in like they did so many times last season. But the Mountaineers didn’t, mainly because the three players who keyed WVU’s 21-2 run were high school seniors last year.
Center Kevin Pittsnogle and guards Joe Herber and Patrick Beilein combined for 32 of West Virginia’s 45 second-half points to lead the Mountaineers to a 75-58 win over the ‘Runnin Bulldogs at the Thomas & Mack Center in day two of the Jim Thorpe Classic.
“This is a great win for us,” said Beilein. “When we were down five with nine minutes to go that was the first time I saw our kid’s heads go down. They were starting to think they couldn’t win and it worried me. Then we got a steal coming out of there, Kevin hit a big three-point shot, Patrick hit a shot and all of the sudden everything changed."
The game was much, much closer than the final score might indicate and Beilein is pleased with the victory over a 1-9 Gardner-Webb team that took Tennessee, Clemson, Virginia and SMU down to the wire and has the nation’s 18th-toughest schedule.
“I don’t know if we came out flat. I think both teams were in that consolation-game mode a little bit,” said Beilein. “I think we hoped that they would go away and they weren’t going to be as good as the coaches said they were.”
West Virginia trailed 34-30 at halftime looked primed for the knockout at the nine-minute mark before its turnaround. Pittsnogle got things going with a three-point basket to cut G-W’s lead to two at 50-48, and Herber added another three to give the Mountaineers a 51-50 lead.
After a media time out, Pittsnogle hit another three to increase West Virginia’s lead to four and he followed up a missed layup by Beilein to give the Mountaineers a 56-50 edge. Beilein tacked on another three to widen WVU’s lead to nine before Gardner-Webb coach Rick Scruggs called a time out.
The stop in play did nothing to cool off West Virginia’s hot streak. The Mountaineers made five more points on a three by Beilein and a steal and dunk by Herber to complete the 19-0 run.
The closest Gardner-Webb could get after that was 67-58 with 2:07 left.
Drew Schifino and Herber each scored 16 to lead West Virginia. Pittsnogle finished with 15 points on six-of-11 shooting, and also hit three three-pointers and pulled down five rebounds.
Beilein had eight points and senior Chaz Briggs scored seven off the bench.
West Virginia matched its season-high with nine three-point baskets and the Mountaineers committed just nine turnovers. Good ballhandling neutralized West Virginia’s inability to grab rebounds. The Mountaineers were pounded on the boards by a disappointing 41-28 margin.
“This is a team that went to hard places to play – Virginia, Clemson and Tennessee – and almost pulled out wins,” said Beilein. “We play them on a neutral court and I wouldn’t have been surprised if we lost by 10 tonight so we’re charged up about this win.”
West Virginia’s eighth victory of the season matches its entire win total of last year.
The Mountaineers (8-2) return to action at St. Louis next Saturday, Jan. 4.
WVU opens Big East play on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at the WVU Coliseum against Miami.
