How Sweet It Is
March 19, 2006 06:24 PM | General
March 19, 2006
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – West Virginia built a big first half lead and overcame some cold second-half shooting to knock off upset-minded Northwestern State 67-54 in an NCAA tournament second-round game at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich., to advance to the NCAA “Sweet 16” for the second consecutive year.
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| West Virginia's Darris Nichols drives to the basket to score two of his five points Sunday in an NCAA tournament second round game against Northwestern State at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich. West Virginia won the game 67-54.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
It is the first time West Virginia has made consecutive trips to the “Sweet 16” since the tournament field was expanded from 24 to 32 teams in 1975, and it’s just the second time the school has advanced to the regionals in consecutive years since All-American guard Jerry West’s junior and senior seasons in 1959-60.
“To get to this point it’s very, very rewarding and I’m very grateful to have this opportunity. But what I’m most grateful about some of the guys I’ve been able to coach because without them this doesn’t happen.”
The No. 6-seeded Mountaineers cashed in on Northwestern State’s aggressive play, out-scoring the Demons 24-6 from the free throw line despite making just four second-half field goals. But West Virginia had built up such a large first-half cushion that it didn’t matter.
Leading 32-19 following a Clifton Lee basket, Frank Young answered with a key follow-up basket off a Patrick Beilein 3-points miss with the shot clock winding down. Northwestern State coach Mike McConathy thought Young pushed off to get the rebound and was whistled for a technical foul.
Kevin Pittsnogle sank both free throws to put the Mountaineers up by 17, 36-19. Young tacked on another pair of free throws after being fouled by Kerwin Forges to give West Virginia an 18-point lead, and right before the half Darris Nichols banked in a 3-point basket from half-court to give the Mountaineers a 41-19 halftime lead.
West Virginia (22-10) had its biggest lead of the game at 25 on a pair of Joe Herber free throws before going cold. Northwestern State (26-8) chipped West Virginia’s lead down to 17 at the 11-minute timeout, and got it to 13, 53-40, on a Keenan Jones driving lay up.
The Demons got even closer when Mike Gansey pulled up with a cramp and missed a lay up and Northwestern State answered on the other end with a Jones pull-up 3 from the wing.
“When I went for that lay up my leg cramped up really bad and I just fell to the ground and couldn’t really get up,” Gansey said. “I came to the sidelined, got massaged up and took some Power Aid and went back in the game and it cramped up again.”
Jones was able to get the Demons’ deficit to single digits by making 1 of 2 free throws with 6:58 remaining, but West Virginia was able to keep its lead in the 10 to 12-point range by making free throws and overcoming some serious foul trouble: JD. Collins, Pittsnogle and Herber had four fouls each.
“With a guy with four fouls you don’t play them at the four-minute mark but I said, ‘Wait a minute, we’ve got three with four fouls. Just one of the fouls out we’re still OK.’ But I wasn’t going to have all three of them off the court and have a bunch of young kids determine whether we’re going to the ‘Sweet 16.’”
“Basketball is a game of runs and they just started making a run in the second half,” said Frank Young, who grabbed 6 rebounds for the Mountaineers. “They tried to trap more in the second half than they did in the first half but for the most part we handled the pressure pretty well.”
The Mountaineers were 17 of 23 from the line in the second half and finished the game 24 of 33.
After shooting 52 percent in the first half, West Virginia finished the game 18 of 46 for 39.1 percent. The Mountaineers were 7 of 23 from 3-point distance for 30.4 percent.
“I think we had fewer turnovers in the second half and we missed four lay ups,” Beilein said. “They came after us and they were going to put us on the foul line and that was the way we were going to score points.”
Northwestern State couldn’t capitalize, hitting 21 of 54 for 38.9 percent. The smaller Demons had a tough time figuring out West Virginia’s changing defenses and particularly the 1-3-1 zone.
Pittsnogle had a tough night making just 3 of 14 from the field, but finished with a game-high 14 points. “I think I had a lot of open looks but I just didn’t knock them down, especially in the second half,” Pittsnogle said.
Gansey scored 11 and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. J.D. Collins and Frank Young scored 10 points each.
“I didn’t tell the team this because I wanted them to be confident and go out and play, but you just knew it was going to be a root canal that whole second half,” Beilein admitted. “You just knew they were going to keep coming at you.
“We got worn down by their waves but at the end we were still standing.”
Lee and Jones led Northwestern State with 11 points each.
Northwestern State chose to play a very physical game, being whistled for 24 fouls and getting two technical fouls. Collins also took a flagrant elbow to the head in the second half.
“I think they tried to take us out of our rhythm by pressuring us and being physical but at this point in the season everyone is just trying to advance,” Collins said. “It looked rough out there sometimes but that’s what you’ve got to expect with one loss and you’re going home.”
“It was a different kind of physical game,” added Pittsnogle. “They’re so small and quick that they try to get up inside you and try to take the ball from you, grab your arms, and they’re so close to you that the referees can’t see everything.”
Including West Virginia's 18-point win over Southern Illinois on Friday, it is the first time the Mountaineers have ever had back-to-back double-digit victories in NCAA tournament play.
West Virginia will play the winner of the Texas-North Carolina State game on Thursday night at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Tickets for the game will go on sale at the Mountaineer Ticket Office beginning at 9 am. Tickets for both sessions are priced at $130 each. Purchases are restricted to Champion level or above members of the Mountaineer Athletic Club.
The team is scheduled to arrive back at the WVU Coliseum between 9 and 10 pm ET Sunday evening.
