Bombs Away!
January 03, 2007 10:16 PM | General
January 3, 2007
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| Frank Young made eight 3s to help West Virginia to a 67-56 win over Villanova Wednesday night at the WVU Coliseum.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Frank Young led all scorers with a career-high 25 points and tied a school record with eight 3-pointers to lead No. 25 West Virginia to a 67-56 victory over the Villanova Wildcats Wednesday night at the WVU Coliseum.
Young came out of the gates scorching, hitting four of his first five 3-point shots and giving the Mountaineers an early 13-5 advantage eight minutes into the first half. West Virginia increased its lead to 16-5 on a Joe Alexander 3 before the Wildcats responded with a 15-7 run that cut the Mountaineer lead to 23-20 with 4:48 remaining in the half.
The final five minutes belonged to the Gold and Blue. The Mountaineers exploded for a 23-4 run to close the half, giving themselves a what seemed like a comfortable 46-24 advantage at intermission. Included in the run were two 3-pointers apiece from Young and Alex Ruoff. Alexander elevated to hit a baseline jump shot as time expired in the first half.
In the first half the Mountaineers shot 51.9 percent from the field including a blistering 10 of 22 from 3-point distance. The Mountaineer defense continued its stellar play in the first period, holding the Wildcats to just 28.6 percent shooting and forcing the visitors into 10 turnovers. It looked like West Virginia was going to coast home to victory as they have done for much of the season.
But Villanova had other ideas.
Using a full-court trapping press, the Wildcats befuddled the Mountaineers for much of the second half. Villanova forced West Virginia into 13 second-half turnovers which ignited a 24-6 Wildcat run. The spurt was capped by a Scottie Reynolds 3-pointer that cut the Mountaineer lead to 52-48 with 5:39 to play in the game.
“As soon as we started the second half and we began throwing these lazy lob passes backdoor against the press I thought we were playing a little tentative,” West Virginia coach John Beilein said.
With the momentum clearly on the side of the Wildcats, WVU responded with a 3 from the corner by Young to make the score 55-48. Villanova’s Curtis Sumpter answered with a turnaround jumper in the lane to make it 55-50. Young made another huge play, this time dribbling across the lane and drawing the defense before finding a wide open Alexander on the wing who buried a 3 that put the Mountaineers up by eight and brought the Coliseum crowd of 8,025 back to their feet.
“We needed to fight through some adversity. We haven’t had a lot of adversity yet this year and we needed to experience it,” Beilein said. “We needed to scrap and claw for a win.”
After Sumpter hit another turnaround jumper in the lane, Young buried his eighth 3 to push the Mountaineer advantage to 61-52 with just 3:24 remaining. Villanova couldn't get any closer.
For the game, West Virginia (12-1, 2-0) shot 45.5 percent from the floor including 15 of 37 from 3-point distance. Villanova shot just 32.8 percent overall.
Despite holding the Wildcats to 56 points, Beilein still isn’t ready to proclaim that his defense has arrived.
“Our length bothered them some I think,” Beilein said. “We got up and challenged shooters but I am still not ready to say we are the Secretary of Defense but we are working on it.”
Young was joined in double figures for the Mountaineers by Alexander and Ruoff, who scored 16 and 11 points respectively.
Villanova was led by Curtis Sumpter's 21 points.
The eight 3-pointers by Young ties the school record held by Chris Leonard and Mike Gansey. Leonard torched Marshall for eight 3s in 1992 while Gansey made eight last season against Marquette.
West Virginia completes its three-game home stand to begin Big East play on Saturday when they host St. Johns. The Red Storm defeated DePaul tonight 64-53. Tip-off from the WVU Coliseum is set for 4 p.m.
