Ebanks Emerges in Win
November 27, 2009 04:43 PM | General
November 27, 2009
BOX SCORE
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| Devin Ebanks |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Two critical steals by sophomore Devin Ebanks in the final minute allowed West Virginia to hold on to a 73-66 victory over Texas A&M in the semifinals of the 76 Classic on Friday afternoon at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif.
The victory puts the Mountaineers (4-0) in the championship game of one of the nation’s most competitive early-season tournaments. West Virginia faces the winner of the Minnesota-Portland matchup on Sunday night at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
"I didn’t think we did a very good job until the end of the first half of meeting their physicality," coach Bob Huggins said. "They were very physical with screens and rebounding the basketball. I thought at the end of the first half we stepped it up and did much better in the second half."
Ebanks had a triumphant season debut for West Virginia, scoring 14 points on 4 of 6 shooting with a team-high nine rebounds. With WVU clinging to a 68-63 lead, Ebanks stripped guard Donald Sloan at midcourt and broke away for a dunk and a foul. He made the free throw to give the Mountaineers a 71-63 lead.
"He’s still a little rusty," Huggins said of Ebanks. "We still have to get the rust off him. It’s nice to have him back, that’s for sure."
After A&M's Derrick Roland cut the lead to 71-66 on a 3-point play and Truck Bryant committed a turnover, Ebanks once again stole the ball from Sloan and was fouled going to the basket. Ebanks made two more free throws to seal the victory.
After getting in early foul trouble in the first half, Da'Sean Butler found his rhythm in the game’s final 20 minutes. The Newark, N.J., native posted 17 points on 5 of 11 shooting and registered five rebounds and five assists, scoring 15 second-half points as WVU outscored the Aggies (4-1) 41-32.
WVU shot 51.1 percent from the field, the second straight game it has made more than half of its field goal attempts. The Mountaineers enjoyed another solid performance from beyond the arc, making eight 3-pointers while shooting 40 percent overall.
Kevin Jones notched 11 points on 4 of 6 shooting. Jones hit a key 3-pointer with 3:47 left to give WVU a 10-point lead, and tallied five boards in 29 minutes.
For the first time this season, West Virginia was outrebounded as the Aggies held a 30-23 advantage on the glass. WVU did show its potential from the free throw line, going 17 of 22.
A key 15-3 run in the second half allowed the Mountaineers to take the first double-digit lead of the afternoon. Joe Mazzulla came in and scored on a breakaway layup to ignite the run, and Butler nailed consecutive 3-pointers from the top of the key and followed with two free throws as West Virginia took a 56-45 with 11:47 remaining.
WVU started off the second half well offensively, scoring the first four points to take a 36-34 lead with 18:34 left in the game. Jones then hit a 3-pointer from the corner to put West Virginia ahead 41-38, but the Aggies came back with two quick baskets to regain their lead at 42-41.
In what was expected to be a defensive battle, both teams started off red hot from the field with the score tied at 11-11 by the first media timeout. Freshman Dalton Pepper scored five quick points on a layup and a 3-pointer from the right baseline.
Ebanks entered the game following the first media timeout and proceeded to score WVU’s next six points. The preseason Naismith Award candidate hit his first shot on a turnaround baseline jumper, then registered another basket on a pull-up shot from the baseline. He added two more points on a pair of free throws to give WVU a 17-13 advantage.
Butler’s finish underneath the basket gave WVU a 21-18 lead with 9:41 left in the first half, but Texas A&M went on a 13-4 run to pull ahead 31-25. Wellington Smith helped minimize the damage with two 3-pointers within a 47-second span, and the Mountaineers went into halftime trailing 34-32.
Sloan and guard B.J. Holmes had 18 points apiece to lead the Aggies.
The Mountaineers will now enjoy Saturday off before wrapping up the weekend on Sunday evening.
"First of all, we’re excited about going and watching Mountaineer football," Huggins added. "Hopefully Coach Stew and the boys have the game well in hand, and we can go over (to the Convention Center) knowing the Mountaineers are winning and scout whatever team we’re playing Sunday evening."
