West Virginia University
Providence
Close Call
February 09, 2005 11:14 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia probably got away with one Wednesday night. The Mountaineers nearly blew an eight-point lead with three minutes to go but were able to hold on to a 67-65 win over tough-luck Providence at the WVU Coliseum.
The Friars had a chance to win the game but freshman Jeff Parmer's three-point try at the top of the key rimmed out as the horn went off. It was Providence's ninth straight loss in Big East play this season, dropping the Friars to 10-13 overall.
"I feel bad for Providence but we willed that win," said West Virginia coach John Beilein. "We were down early and we couldn't get a whole lot going and we just kept playing through things. We had some guys sick today, it was hot in there and we were tired and I haven't seen the team like that."
There were 11 lead changes in a game neither team could take control of.
Providence began the game with an 11-4 advantage and led by nine, 20-11, before West Virginia went on 12-2 run to take its first lead of the game, 23-22, with 7:46 left in the first half on a layup by Mike Gansey. Sophomore Frank Young, who finished the game with a career-high 11 points, keyed the run with a pair of three-point baskets.
"He has been lighting us up on the scout team and it wasn't much of a choice when I knew guys had the sniffles," Beilein said of giving Young extended duty tonight. "This was good because Frank needs to play and he did a great job."
West Virginia built its lead to six, 30-24, and then 32-26 before the Friars got easy baskets from Charlie Burch, Herber Hill and Ryan Gomes to tie the game at 34.
The Mountaineers led at halftime, 38-36.
West Virginia used a 7-0 run at the start of the second half to build its biggest lead of the game, 45-36, before Providence began chipping away. After a Donnie McGrath three trimmed West Virginia's lead to six, Gomes went to work scoring eight straight points to cut West Virginia's lead to two, 49-47, with 11:27 remaining.
Providence reclaimed the lead a minute later when Parmer sank a three-point basket.
After a Joe Herber layup gave West Virginia a 55-54 lead, Young sank a huge three with 6:54 remaining to put the Mountaineers up by four, 58-54.
Then Tyrone Sally was able to work himself free for a couple of baskets and two free throws on a little curl play in the middle of the lane.
"It's the look we called but it's Tyrone that reads the screen," said Beilein. "Because he was trailing him he curled it (toward the basket). If they would have gone through with him then he would have faded. We made the nice little bounce pass and he made some big baskets."
Sally's last bucket with 3:03 left gave the Mountaineers a seemingly comfortable 66-58 advantage.
But Parmer nailed a three to cut West Virginia's lead to five and a Joe Herber turnover on a lob pass intended for D'or Fischer eventually turned into a Gomes layup with 2:01 remaining to close the Providence gap to three, 66-63.
Another Gomes jumper with 1:19 left made it a one-point game before Sally was able to convert one of two free throws with 15 seconds left.
That set up Providence with an opportunity to either win it with a three-point basket or tie it with a two. West Virginia was able to give three fouls, burning off all but two seconds on the clock.
Providence had an inbound play underneath its basket and got a good look with Parmer at the top of the key, but his shot rattled out as the game clock expired.
"I know everybody says that you should play for the tie with a two instead of playing for the win with the three because you want to take a high percentage shot," said Providence coach Tim Welsh. "We just want to play for the best shot. If it's a three, take it. If it's a two, go for it. They took away the two, so we took the three because it was the highest percentage shot."
"We were in a quandary there," said Beilein. "We never go man out of bounds with two seconds left … we haven't all year. Now you go 1-3-1 or you go two-zone. You call a timeout and now they set something up … I just flew by the seat of my pants. If Parmer's shot goes in I would have been jumping off the Cheat Lake Bridge."
Sally contributed 15 points, 13 in the second half, and grabbed five rebounds. Pittsnogle added 13 points and six boards.
West Virginia was able to withstand a four of 16 shooting effort from three-point range and 11 turnovers to improve to 14-7, 4-6.
Gomes was a monster in the paint finishing the game with 33 points and 14 rebounds for Providence. The senior forward made 16 of 25 field-goal attempts in 39 minutes of action.
"Gomes is definitely incredible," said Beilein. "Take Adrian Dantley and make him 6-7. I think this guy can play anywhere at anytime because his hands, his feel for the ball and where it is. How about the shots he misses and he's putting them back in before anyone even knows he misses them and we're right there? We're very fortunate to come out with a win without having an answer for Ryan."
Donnie McGrath, who came into the game making 11 straight three-point field goal attempts over his past two games, made three in a row against WVU to extend his streak to 14 before finally missing. He finished the game four of nine from three-point range for 14 points.
The victories over Pitt and Providence are West Virginia's first back-to-back wins in conference play this season. The Mountaineers remain in eighth place in the league standings behind 5-4 Villanova.
West Virginia faces fourth-place Georgetown Saturday afternoon in Washington, D.C. The Hoyas are a surprising 15-7, 7-3 under first-year coach John Thompson III.
