NIT Champions!
March 29, 2007 10:07 PM | General
March 29, 2007
GALLERY: PHOTO 1 | PHOTO 2 | PHOTO 3 | PHOTO 4
GAME INFO: BOX SCORE | PODCAST
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Dyke Raese was smiling down on his West Virginia University Mountaineers Thursday night. WVU got 24 points from senior Frank Young to outlast Clemson 78-73 in capturing the 2007 National Invitation Tournament. It was West Virginia’s first NIT title since Raese’s Mountaineer team upset Long Island, Toledo and Western Kentucky to win the 1942 NIT championship.
 |
||
| One more time Frank. West Virginia's Frank Young showcase's his sweet jump shot in Thursday night's NIT championship victory over Clemson at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Young finished with a game-high 24 points.
All-Pro Photography Dale Sparks |
Young was the tournament’s most outstanding performer, averaging 22.6 points in five games, shooting 63.9 percent from the floor including a phenomenal 68.5 percent from 3-point range (24 of 35). In the championship game against Clemson, Young was 7 of 10 overall including 6 of 7 from 3.
“Frank Young was marvelous the whole game,” said West Virginia coach John Beilein. “When he was in the first half I was thinking to myself, ‘If he gets that third foul I’m going to put him back out on that track.’ He hit two 3s and it worked out great.”
West Virginia (27-9) used a 12-2 run at the end of the first half to take control of the game. After James Mays’s steal and dunk pulled the Tigers to within two, 26-24, West Virginia got consecutive 3-point baskets by Young, and a pair of 3s by Jamie Smalligan and Da’Sean Butler to take a 38-24 lead with 1:10 left in the half.
West Virginia’s biggest lead of the game came with 14:53 remaining when Young made his fifth 3 to give the Mountaineers a 49-32 advantage.
Clemson (25-11) tried to make a game of it when Trevor Booker blocked Smalligan’s 3-point shot try at the top of the key, retrieved the ball and went in for a one-handed slam to pull the Tigers to within 10, 55-45.
Butler immediately answered with a pretty pull-up jumper, and the freshman added a 3 with 7:23 left to make it a 15-point lead once again.
Clemson used a 13-2 run over the remaining 1:05 when the officials ate their whistles to make it a five-point game.
“We had a few errors but we really played to win,” said Beilein. “We played to win from the beginning to the end and give Clemson an awful lot of credit.”
West Virginia had a 32-to-5 advantage in scoring off the bench -- 20 coming from Butler on 8 of 15 shooting. He was also 2 of 4 from behind the 3-point arc. Nichols, who joined Young on the NIT all-tournament team, scored 13 points on 6 of 10 shooting.
Alex Ruoff had 7 points and a team-high nine assists.
“If there is a better backcourt in the country (Nichols, Ruoff and Mazzulla) … there might be a few but they’re not juniors, sophomores and freshmen,” said Beilein. “That was a pretty good performance by those two and Joey Mazzulla coming off the bench.”
West Virginia made 29 of 56 for 51.8 percent including 12 of 20 from 3 for 60 percent.
"It's been a lot of fun to play in this tournament and all the emotions just built up as it went along," Young said. "Of course we wanted to be in the NCAA tournament, but to win this tournament, all the joy is still there. We're still happy about finishing our season with a win.
"It was gratifying just to see how far I've come as a player," Young said. "The trophy signifies that I did a pretty good job leading this team."
The Mountaineers had a 35-31 edge on the glass, out-rebounding both Mississippi State and Clemson in New York City.
K.C. Rivers scored 18 points to lead Clemson. Vernon Hamilton added 16, Booker scored 13, Cliff Hammonds had 11 and Mays finished with 10.
Clemson shot 47.7 percent (31 of 65) but was just 6 of 22 from behind the 3-point arc for 27.3 percent.
"The story of the game is giving up 3s and them making 3s," Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said.
The Mountaineers' last appearance at Madison Square Garden for the NIT Final Four came in 1981 when they lost a pair of games to Tulsa and Purdue.
West Virginia’s 27 victories are the most by a WVU team since Gale Catlett’s 1982 squad posted a 27-4 record. It is the most victories ever in a season by a John Beilein team in 29 years of coaching.
West Virginia is 73-31 the last three seasons under Beilein.
