Off to New York
March 21, 2007 12:22 AM | General
March 20, 2007
BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Frank Young has hoisted the West Virginia University basketball team on his shoulders and he has decided to carry them all the way to New York City. Young scored 25 points and hit two critical second-half 3s to lead West Virginia to a 71-66 come-from-behind victory over North Carolina State in the NIT quarterfinals Tuesday night in Morgantown.
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| West Virginia's Frank Young is averaging 24.3 points in three NIT games and is shooting 68.4 percent for the tournament.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
“They made a great run at us in the second half, got ahead, and we went to our senior and he came up big,” said West Virginia coach John Beilein.
Trailing 62-58 after Dennis Horner’s lay up with 4:08 remaining, Beilein called a 30-second timeout wanting to get a good shot.
Young hoisted up a bank-shot 3 to pull the Mountaineers to within one, and nailed another 3 with 2:55 left to give West Virginia a 64-62 lead.
“He didn’t call the bank but it all evens out,” Beilein said. “I thought North Carolina State did a great job of executing their offense but the ball bounced their way a couple of times, too. We blocked a shot and they hit a 3 coming right back. We had a couple ones pop out and all of the sudden they’re laying it in.”
Engin Atsur put the Wolfpack back up by one, 65-64, on a 3 at the 2:26 mark; Alex Ruoff answered with West Virginia’s third straight 3 with 2:09 left to make it 67-65.
A key sequence in the game came following Atsur’s missed 3-point try that went out of bounds back to West Virginia with 1:47 left. A media timeout gave Beilein time to diagram a set play and Ruoff found Summers moving toward the basket for a lay up to give the Mountaineers a four-point advantage with 90 seconds remaining.
Brandon Costner made one of two free throws to pull the Wolfpack to within three, 69-66. Ruoff could have iced the game for WVU with 32 seconds left but his driving lay up was waved off on a charging call.
“We had a couple of bad charges down here – good calls – but bad selections,” Beilein said. “What I like is maybe earlier in their careers they maybe would have hung their heads. They came back and made big shots right after that.”
Courtney Fells’ 3-point try to tie the game with 20 seconds left was pulled down by Young, who got the ball to Darris Nichols. Atsur fouled Nichols with 17 seconds left, putting the junior at the line with a one and one.
Nichols missed the free throw and N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe called timeout with 10 seconds left. When play resumed, Gavin Grant got a clean look at the basket but his 3-point try to tie the game with seven seconds left was off the mark. Da’Sean Butler pulled down the rebound and was fouled by Brandon Costner with 2.6 seconds remaining. Butler made both free throws to ice the game.
“The crowd was absolutely terrific,” Beilein said. “We won by five points and they (meant) about 10 points.”
The announced attendance for Tuesday night's game was 11,215.
“It was a high-energy game; you take the UMass game and now just take it to a whole other level,” Beilein said.
Young was 9 of 14 shooting including 6 of 9 from 3-point range while also pulling down five rebounds and making two steals. He is now the school single-season record holder with 107 3-point baskets.
The Tallahassee, Fla., native has played his best basketball of the season in the NIT, coming off a career-high 31 points in last Thursday night’s victory over UMass. In three NIT games so far Young had made 26 of 38 field goal attempts for 68.4 percent. The 6-5 forward is 14 of 20 from 3-point distance for 70 percent and is averaging 24.3 points per game.
Ruoff had a tough night shooting, making just 5 of 14, but he wound up with 15 points and 11 assists.
The Mountaineers (25-9) were 12 of 24 from 3-point distance and finished the game 26 of 54 overall for 48.1 percent.
“We were almost too much into the game,” Beilein. “I was fussing with the officials from the very beginning and fussing with a couple of the players, too, because I wanted these kids to experience the NIT in New York.”
The Wolfpack (20-16) got 22 points from Costner, 14 from Atsur and 12 from Grant. Costner pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
North Carolina State was 21 of 56 for 37.5 percent including 9 of 19 from 3. State had a 39-29 edge on the glass, pulling down 14 offensive rebounds.
WVU defeated North Carolina State 71-60 earlier this year in Charleston. State is now 0-6 against the Mountaineers in games played in West Virginia.
WVU advances to the NIT semifinals in New York City for the first time since 1981 when WVU lost to Tulsa in overtime.
“By the time we play again there are only going to be eight teams left playing in the country,” Beilein said. “That’s pretty good and we’re really pleased to be one of those eight.”
The Mountaineers will face No. 1-seeded Mississippi State in one semifinal game on Tuesday night. The start time will be determined after tomorrow night’s games.
