Bryant's 24 Leads WVU
February 19, 2011 04:36 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It turns out what has been ailing the West Virginia basketball team the last couple weeks wasn’t anything a few shots couldn't take care of. The Mountaineers made 53.8% of their second-half field goal attempts to cruise past eighth-ranked Notre Dame, 72-58, Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
West Virginia (17-9, 8-6), which shot 40.7% overall, appeared headed for another dreadful shooting performance after a first half that saw it hit just 8 of 28 for 28.6%.
But early in the second half, WVU caught fire after Bryant’s 3 tied the game at 31 with 18:01 remaining. Joe Mazzulla’s jumper gave the Mountaineers a two-point advantage, and Bryant nailed his second 3 to give West Virginia a 36-31 lead and force Notre Dame coach Mike Brey to take a 30-second timeout.
“We just didn’t make any shots,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins of his team’s first-half offensive woes. “Truck got us going, which helps.”
Layups by Mazzulla and Jones eventually pushed the lead out to seven, 42-35, and then Jonnie West came off the bench to make a 3 to put West Virginia ahead by 10, 45-35.
“West’s shot was a big shot,” said Brey.
“I planned at halftime to put Jonnie in when they went with their freshmen – someone who wouldn’t overpower him with size at the other end, and then he hit a big shot for us,” said Huggins.
Five straight points by Notre Dame was stopped by Kevin Jones’ 3 with 12:20 to go, and another jumper by Bryant got the lead once again to double digits.
West Virginia’s biggest lead was 15, the latest coming with 1:53 to go at 71-56.
“It was a great atmosphere here,” said Brey. “We probably got a little more rattled here than we did at the Petersen Events Center (at Pitt on Jan. 24).”
Bryant and Mazzulla combined to shoot 11 of 21 and score 40 points, Bryant overcoming a two-month shooting slump to make 5 of 11 from the floor, including 4 of 7 from 3 to finish with 24 points. The last time Bryant made five or more field goals in a game was back on Jan. 1 at Marquette when he scored a season-high 25 points.
Mazzulla, too, took advantage of Notre Dame’s size in the backcourt to score 16 points and hand out a team-best seven assists. Mazzulla finished the game 6 of 11 overall and 1 of 2 from 3.
Jones added 14 points and 10 rebounds while John Flowers also contributed 10 boards.
Ben Hansbrough scored 19 for Notre Dame, now 21-5, 10-4. He made 7 of 18 shots before fouling out with 2:28 remaining in the game.
Carleton Scott added 11 points and 11 rebounds. The Irish finished the game shooting just 35%.
Both benches were called for technical fouls but the one that seemed to really ignite the players was the one Bob Huggins received with 10:23 left in the game. After Tim Abromaitis made both free throws to cut West Virginia’s lead to eight, 50-42, the Mountaineers scored the next seven points to take a 15-point lead. Brey’s technical came during West Virginia’s run.
“Officiating had nothing to do with this game – it was West Virginia’s production and how well they played,” said Brey.
“I thought we played with a lot of enthusiasm throughout the whole game,” Huggins said. “This is probably as hard as we have played since the Purdue game – for 40 minutes. I think everyone we put in played hard.”
West Virginia returns to the floor next Thursday night at Pitt in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPN.
West Virginia (17-9, 8-6), which shot 40.7% overall, appeared headed for another dreadful shooting performance after a first half that saw it hit just 8 of 28 for 28.6%.
But early in the second half, WVU caught fire after Bryant’s 3 tied the game at 31 with 18:01 remaining. Joe Mazzulla’s jumper gave the Mountaineers a two-point advantage, and Bryant nailed his second 3 to give West Virginia a 36-31 lead and force Notre Dame coach Mike Brey to take a 30-second timeout.
“We just didn’t make any shots,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins of his team’s first-half offensive woes. “Truck got us going, which helps.”
Layups by Mazzulla and Jones eventually pushed the lead out to seven, 42-35, and then Jonnie West came off the bench to make a 3 to put West Virginia ahead by 10, 45-35.
“West’s shot was a big shot,” said Brey.
“I planned at halftime to put Jonnie in when they went with their freshmen – someone who wouldn’t overpower him with size at the other end, and then he hit a big shot for us,” said Huggins.
Five straight points by Notre Dame was stopped by Kevin Jones’ 3 with 12:20 to go, and another jumper by Bryant got the lead once again to double digits.
West Virginia’s biggest lead was 15, the latest coming with 1:53 to go at 71-56.
“It was a great atmosphere here,” said Brey. “We probably got a little more rattled here than we did at the Petersen Events Center (at Pitt on Jan. 24).”
Bryant and Mazzulla combined to shoot 11 of 21 and score 40 points, Bryant overcoming a two-month shooting slump to make 5 of 11 from the floor, including 4 of 7 from 3 to finish with 24 points. The last time Bryant made five or more field goals in a game was back on Jan. 1 at Marquette when he scored a season-high 25 points.
Mazzulla, too, took advantage of Notre Dame’s size in the backcourt to score 16 points and hand out a team-best seven assists. Mazzulla finished the game 6 of 11 overall and 1 of 2 from 3.
Jones added 14 points and 10 rebounds while John Flowers also contributed 10 boards.
Ben Hansbrough scored 19 for Notre Dame, now 21-5, 10-4. He made 7 of 18 shots before fouling out with 2:28 remaining in the game.
Carleton Scott added 11 points and 11 rebounds. The Irish finished the game shooting just 35%.
Both benches were called for technical fouls but the one that seemed to really ignite the players was the one Bob Huggins received with 10:23 left in the game. After Tim Abromaitis made both free throws to cut West Virginia’s lead to eight, 50-42, the Mountaineers scored the next seven points to take a 15-point lead. Brey’s technical came during West Virginia’s run.
“Officiating had nothing to do with this game – it was West Virginia’s production and how well they played,” said Brey.
“I thought we played with a lot of enthusiasm throughout the whole game,” Huggins said. “This is probably as hard as we have played since the Purdue game – for 40 minutes. I think everyone we put in played hard.”
West Virginia returns to the floor next Thursday night at Pitt in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPN.
Gold-Blue Spring Festival Fan Recap
Sunday, April 19
John Neider | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Zac Alley | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Rich Rodriguez | April 18
Saturday, April 18
