Mitchell's 3 Sinks Vandy
November 19, 2010 04:07 PM | General
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – Casey Mitchell made them when it counted. It was Mitchell’s 3-point basket with four seconds left that gave West Virginia a 74-71 victory over Vanderbilt Friday afternoon in the semifinals of the Honda Puerto Rico Tip-Off being played in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Mitchell scored the first 11 points of the game for the Mountaineers to help them build a 13-point halftime lead, and then he scored 14 of West Virginia’s remaining 19 points, including the game-winning basket from the left wing.
In between, it seemed like nobody in a white jersey could throw one in the ocean.
Vanderbilt (2-1) got back into the game by using a 2-3 zone at the start of the second half. At one point West Virginia missed nine straight field goal attempts – five of those misses coming from 3 – enabling the Commodores to chip away at West Virginia’s double-digit lead.
“They came out and stood in a 2-3 zone and we were wide open and didn’t even come close to making shots,” said Huggins. “Then we’d get fouled and miss some front ends.”
Vanderbilt eventually tied the game at 51 on a pair of Steve Tchiengang free throws, and took a brief lead at 52-51 when Brad Tinsley made one of two from the line. But Deniz Kilicli answered with a basket that started a 9-1 run – all Mitchell 3s – to give West Virginia a 65-55 lead with 5:19 remaining.
With West Virginia leading by eight after a pair of Mitchell free throws at 4:01, Jenkins nailed a 3 to cut the lead to five. A second Jenkins 3-point try appeared to be blocked by Mitchell, but a foul was called and Jenkins was awarded three free throws. He made all three to make it a two-point game.
“That’s a heck of a call to make,” said Huggins.
Jenkins’ fifth 3 with 2:01 remaining gave Vanderbilt its second lead of the second half at 68-67 before John Flowers put the Mountaineers back ahead with two free throws with 1:22 to go.
When Mitchell made his 3 to put West Virginia back in the lead for good with four seconds left, Huggins said he didn’t even consider fouling Vanderbilt and putting them on the line with a 74-71 advantage.
“My concern is the way we got whipped on the glass in the second half and I was concerned they’d make one and miss one and we wouldn’t rebound it,” he explained. “I’d rather take a chance with our defense like we did. We did what we wanted. We didn’t let Jenkins get it. We had the freshman (Rod Odom) take the shot and that’s kind of what we wanted.”
Odom’s last-second shot to tie the game was off the mark.
Mitchell scored a career-high 31 points to lead all scorers. He made nine of 15 from the floor and hit all six of West Virginia’s 3-point baskets while the rest of the team went 0 for 9 from behind the arc. Mitchell, too, missed some wide open 3-point looks midway through the second half that helped Vanderbilt get back into the game.
“I give him some credit because he came out at the start of the second half and shot the ball terrible,” said Huggins. “His shots weren’t even close. We took him out and sat him down for a little while and he came back in and really stepped up and made some huge shots for us.”
Kevin Jones scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but rebounding was again problematic for West Virginia. Vanderbilt grabbed 42 rebounds agianst the Mountaineers and really controlled the glass in the second half.
Vanderbilt center Festus Ezeli pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds for the Commodores before fouling out. Jenkins scored 27, hitting 5 of 11 from 3, while Odom came off the bench to add 11.
Vanderbilt shot just 32.8 percent for the game and was even worse from the floor in the second half when it twice made up double-digit deficits.
“They shoot 24.1 percent (7 of 29) in the second half and gained eight points on us because they did what we said don’t do – we fouled them,” said Huggins. “We’re behind the guy and we jump on his back. They rebound the ball and we reach over and smack it. It was not a very intelligent second half on our part.”
The two teams combined to shoot 73 free throws. Yesterday against Davidson, West Virginia took part in a 78-free-throw shootingfest.
"If you didn't care who won, that was a heck of a college basketball game," said Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings. "We're obviously disappointed to not have won. We could've won, but they played a little better than we did."
The Mountaineers (3-0) will face either eighth-ranked North Carolina or Minnesota in the championship game Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m. That contest will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
“It’s fun playing for championships,” said Huggins. “It wouldn’t have been a lot of fun sitting here playing Sunday afternoon.”
Mitchell scored the first 11 points of the game for the Mountaineers to help them build a 13-point halftime lead, and then he scored 14 of West Virginia’s remaining 19 points, including the game-winning basket from the left wing.
In between, it seemed like nobody in a white jersey could throw one in the ocean.
Vanderbilt (2-1) got back into the game by using a 2-3 zone at the start of the second half. At one point West Virginia missed nine straight field goal attempts – five of those misses coming from 3 – enabling the Commodores to chip away at West Virginia’s double-digit lead.
“They came out and stood in a 2-3 zone and we were wide open and didn’t even come close to making shots,” said Huggins. “Then we’d get fouled and miss some front ends.”
Vanderbilt eventually tied the game at 51 on a pair of Steve Tchiengang free throws, and took a brief lead at 52-51 when Brad Tinsley made one of two from the line. But Deniz Kilicli answered with a basket that started a 9-1 run – all Mitchell 3s – to give West Virginia a 65-55 lead with 5:19 remaining.
With West Virginia leading by eight after a pair of Mitchell free throws at 4:01, Jenkins nailed a 3 to cut the lead to five. A second Jenkins 3-point try appeared to be blocked by Mitchell, but a foul was called and Jenkins was awarded three free throws. He made all three to make it a two-point game.
“That’s a heck of a call to make,” said Huggins.
Jenkins’ fifth 3 with 2:01 remaining gave Vanderbilt its second lead of the second half at 68-67 before John Flowers put the Mountaineers back ahead with two free throws with 1:22 to go.
When Mitchell made his 3 to put West Virginia back in the lead for good with four seconds left, Huggins said he didn’t even consider fouling Vanderbilt and putting them on the line with a 74-71 advantage.
“My concern is the way we got whipped on the glass in the second half and I was concerned they’d make one and miss one and we wouldn’t rebound it,” he explained. “I’d rather take a chance with our defense like we did. We did what we wanted. We didn’t let Jenkins get it. We had the freshman (Rod Odom) take the shot and that’s kind of what we wanted.”
Odom’s last-second shot to tie the game was off the mark.
Mitchell scored a career-high 31 points to lead all scorers. He made nine of 15 from the floor and hit all six of West Virginia’s 3-point baskets while the rest of the team went 0 for 9 from behind the arc. Mitchell, too, missed some wide open 3-point looks midway through the second half that helped Vanderbilt get back into the game.
“I give him some credit because he came out at the start of the second half and shot the ball terrible,” said Huggins. “His shots weren’t even close. We took him out and sat him down for a little while and he came back in and really stepped up and made some huge shots for us.”
Kevin Jones scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but rebounding was again problematic for West Virginia. Vanderbilt grabbed 42 rebounds agianst the Mountaineers and really controlled the glass in the second half.
Vanderbilt center Festus Ezeli pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds for the Commodores before fouling out. Jenkins scored 27, hitting 5 of 11 from 3, while Odom came off the bench to add 11.
Vanderbilt shot just 32.8 percent for the game and was even worse from the floor in the second half when it twice made up double-digit deficits.
“They shoot 24.1 percent (7 of 29) in the second half and gained eight points on us because they did what we said don’t do – we fouled them,” said Huggins. “We’re behind the guy and we jump on his back. They rebound the ball and we reach over and smack it. It was not a very intelligent second half on our part.”
The two teams combined to shoot 73 free throws. Yesterday against Davidson, West Virginia took part in a 78-free-throw shootingfest.
"If you didn't care who won, that was a heck of a college basketball game," said Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings. "We're obviously disappointed to not have won. We could've won, but they played a little better than we did."
The Mountaineers (3-0) will face either eighth-ranked North Carolina or Minnesota in the championship game Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m. That contest will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
“It’s fun playing for championships,” said Huggins. “It wouldn’t have been a lot of fun sitting here playing Sunday afternoon.”
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