LSU One Better Than WVU
December 04, 2014 09:47 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Josh Gray’s driving layup with eight seconds left gave LSU a 74-73 come-from-behind victory over 16th-ranked West Virginia in Thursday night’s SEC-Big 12 Challenge played at the WVU Coliseum.
West Virginia was enjoying a 14-point lead early in the second half but scored only four points during a nine-minute stretch midway through the second half to enable LSU to get back into the game.
The Tigers (6-2) tied it with 9:03 remaining on a Keith Hornsby 3 before Juwan Staten ended West Virginia’s dry spell with a short jumper.
The Mountaineers (7-1) took a six-point lead on a pair of Tarik Phillip free throws, and had a four-point advantage with 1:32 remaining on a nice sequence of plays by Devin Williams, Jonathan Holton and Daxter Miles Jr.
Williams was able to muscle in a contested shot in the paint to give West Virginia at 70-67 lead with 1:40 remaining. Then on the ensuing inbound play, Holton got his hand on the basketball and the deflection went to Miles who was fouled by Gray while going to the basket. Miles was able to hit one of two from the line to give West Virginia a four-point lead, 71-67.
Jarell Martin answered for LSU with a driving layup with 1:07 left.
On the other end of the floor, with the Mountaineers running down the shot clock, Staten got off a wild off-balance shot that caromed off the glass and into the arms of Gray, who pushed the ball up the floor to Hornsby in the corner for an open 3 that gave LSU a 71-70 lead.
Martin was called for his fifth foul trying to steal the ball away from Holton in the backcourt to put the West Virginia forward on the line for a one-and-one with 24 seconds left.
Holton’s free throw was short, but Miles Jr. was able to sneak into the lane and tip in the miss to give West Virginia a 73-72 lead. After an LSU timeout and then a foul by Phillip, Gray was able to shake free to score the go-ahead basket.
The Mountaineers had a chance to win it at the end but Staten’s jumper was off line as time expired.
Tonight’s victory was particularly impressive for the Tigers, coming off just two days of rest after beating UMass by 22 in Baton Rouge on Tuesday night. The well-rested Mountaineers last played on Saturday night against the College of Charleston.
The Tigers got a game-high 21 points off the bench from Tim Quarterman and an 18-point, 14-rebound double-double from Martin.
LSU’s other touted big, Jordan Mickey, finished the night with 4 points and six rebounds.
The Tigers shot 50 percent in the second half while the Mountaineers made only 34.4 percent of their second-half field goal attempts. West Virginia shot 34.3 percent for the game.
Staten led the Mountaineers with 17 points but he needed 19 shots to get his 17. WVU’s other two double-digit scorers - Holton (2 of 10) and Devin Williams (3 of 8) - also struggled to make shots against a very athletic Tiger front line.
Miles Jr. contributed 13 points and Phillip added 12, eight of those coming from the free throw line.
There were eight ties and 10 lead changes in the game. West Virginia forced 24 LSU turnovers on 19 steals, but allowed the Tigers to shoot 8-of-15 from three and also get a nine-rebound edge on the glass.
LSU’s last trip to Morgantown back on Nov. 26, 2005 also was a down-to-the-wire affair that the Tigers pulled out in overtime, 71-68.
A crowd of 10,802 was announced for tonight’s game.
West Virginia (7-1) returns to action on Sunday to play at Northern Kentucky in a game that can be seen on ESPN3.
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