Trimming the Terps
December 07, 2003 06:59 PM | General
December 7, 2003
WASHINGTON, D.C. – West Virginia coach John Beilein wasn’t showing a lot of love this morning to his son Patrick, who made just one of five field goal attempts and committed three turnovers in a loss to George Washington on Saturday.
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| West Virginia's Jarmon Collins and Maryland's Chris McCray fight for a loose ball during Sunday's game at the MCI Center. (AP photo) |
Sunday afternoon it was a different story, however. The coach’s son nailed three critical three-point baskets in a row midway through the second half and coolly converted two free throws with 12.9 seconds left in overtime to help lift West Virginia to a 78-77 victory over No. 25 Maryland in the consolation game of the BB&T Classic at the MCI Center.
“It was big win for us, especially after yesterday,” said Beilein. “What I like best about the game is that we won it in overtime.”
Beilein’s three straight threes helped West Virginia build a 16-point lead early in the second half and the Mountaineers needed every single point of its advantage against a hustling and aggressive Maryland team.
“We had the big lead … I don’t know if we blew it. They’re a good team and they came back,” said Beilein.
The Terps (4-2) went on a 14-0 run to cut West Virginia’s lead to two at 61-59. It wasn’t until Drew Schifino made a driving layup with 6:51 left that West Virginia broke an eight-minute scoreless spell. The Mountaineers went the final 13:35 making just two field goals.
“There were several times there when we did get out of control, especially our young players who are sort of learning how to play,” said Beilein. “We told them, ‘If we can stay patient we can score because they’ve had one day to prepare for us.’”
West Virginia (3-2) had several opportunities to put Maryland away down the stretch. Leading 63-59, West Virginia could have gone up six but Schifino’s driving layup was off the mark. Kevin Pittsnogle had two stickback chances on Schifino’s miss also go awry.
With 2:12 left and WVU leading by three, Joe Herber could have given West Virginia a two-possession lead but missed both free throw attempts. Schifino also missed a free throw with 1:30 remaining that would have given West Virginia a four-point advantage.
Maryland, down one, also missed a big opportunity with 16.1 seconds left, but Chris McCray was only able to convert the second of two free throw attempts to tie the game at 66.
After McCray’s free throw West Virginia elected to keep playing instead of calling a timeout to set up a play, and Schifino’s baseline runner with two seconds left missed the mark.
Maryland called a quick timeout but was unsuccessful in getting off a good shot before the end of regulation.
The Terps opened up the overtime period with a three-point lead when Nik Caner-Medley converted a three-point play, but West Virginia answered with six straight points, three coming off a long bomb by Pittsnogle and three more from the foul line by Herber and Tyrone Sally.
“They got ahead by three and we could have wilted but we fought back,” said Beilein.
John Gilchrist hit one of two free throws with 2:55 left in overtime to cut West Virginia’s lead to two, 72-70, but Schifino nailed two big foul shots on the other end to keep WVU’s four-point cushion.
Four consecutive free throws by Jarmon Durriseau-Collins and Patrick Beilein with less than 20 seconds left gave West Virginia a 78-74 advantage.
Maryland’s Mike Grinnon made the first of two free throws with four seconds left. His second one missed and Jamar Smith worked himself free to make the putback with 1.5 seconds left. Maryland called a timeout and tried to steal the inbounds pass underneath its own basket, but West Virginia was able to get the ball into Schifino and run out the clock.
West Virginia took advantage of Maryland’s inexperience on the perimeter to shoot 13 of 26 from three-point distance. WVU’s 13 threes tied a school record made against Notre Dame in 2000.
The Terps were defeated yesterday by Gonzaga the same way: Gonzaga hit 13 of 23 three-point field goal attempts. Maryland shot 49.2 percent from the floor but committed 19 turnovers.
West Virginia’s biggest lead of the first half was nine points at 28-19 following a three-point play from Sally. That halftime score was 38-34, West Virginia.
West Virginia got 18 points from Schifino, who hit just 6 of 19 field goal attempts. Tyrone Sally contributed 14 points before fouling out in overtime.
Beilein knocked in 11 off the bench and Pittsnogle added 10 points and eight rebounds.
Reserve guard Tyler Relph hit a big three-point basket and contributed a team-high eight assists. Frank Young also converted to important threes off the bench in the first half. The Mountaineers had a 22-6 point advantage from their bench.
Maryland got a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds from Smith. McCray contributed 16, Gilchrist added 15, and Travis Garrison scored 11.
West Virginia’s win over the No. 25-rated Terps was the second by a Beilein-coached Mountaineer team against a ranked opponent. Last year West Virginia upset No. 8-rated Florida, 68-66 in Charleston.
West Virginia has six days off before its next game against Duquesne on Saturday, Dec. 13 at the WVU Coliseum. That game will tip off at 7 pm.
