Carter's FTs Lift WVU in OT
January 24, 2015 05:46 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Jevon Carter’s two free throws with 0.9 seconds left gave West Virginia an 86-85 overtime victory over TCU Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
Carter’s game-winning points were the result of a foul called on TCU’s Kyan Anderson after Carter caught a full-court inbound pass from Daxter Miles and sailed toward the basket.
“It’s amazing the freshmen made the play they made at the end of the game,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “Dax grabbing it quick, Jevon understanding he’s got to run the floor … I mean you can play the game for a long time and not have that kind of acumen to do what those two guys just did.”
At the beginning of overtime, Huggins pointed out that Miles’ fall-away 3 from the corner that barely drew iron when West Virginia sorely needed a basket was not the shot he was looking for.
“They drive me nuts because sometimes they do some really stupid things sometimes, but then they make basketball plays that most people are never going to make,” said Huggins. “Then, with J.C. to stand there and make two free throws with the game on the line, they’re both beyond their years in some ways.”
The Horned Frogs took an 85-84 lead with 1.8 seconds left on Trey Zeigler’s short jumper, this coming after Miles banged a 3 with seven seconds left to give the Mountaineers a one-point lead, 84-83.
On two occasions it looked like TCU was going to win the game, once with two minutes left in regulation when Charles Hill got a 3 from the wing to give TCU a four-point lead, and then with 1:20 left in the first overtime when the Horned Frogs took a five-point advantage on an Anderson jumper.
In regulation, it was Carter and Miles who made up the deficit, Carter answering Hill’s 3 with another 3 to make it a one-point game. After Juwan Staten’s free throw with 38 seconds left tied it at 70, Zeigler hit a jumper with 7.3 seconds remaining to give the Horned Frogs a 72-70 lead.
Miles tied the game with 1.1 seconds to go when he got a difficult basket in traffic to go down.
On the inbound pass, Zeigler threw the ball past Anderson at midcourt and the ball rolled out of bounds, giving West Virginia an inbound play underneath TCU’s basket with the clock holding at 1.1 seconds.
Following a timeout, the Mountaineers got the ball to Devin Williams close to the basket where he drew contact but was unable to get the shot to go down.
Then in overtime, with the Horned Frogs leading by five, Williams made two free throws, another free throw by Staten reduced the deficit to two, Miles cut it to one with a 3 and then Miles’ 3 with seven seconds left gave WVU a one-point lead.
Three of West Virginia’s six 3-point field goals happened in the final six minutes of the game.
West Virginia shot the ball horribly once again today, making 6 of 25 from behind the arc, missing 10 free throws, including five in the second half from Staten, and was out-rebounded by 12 on the glass, but the Mountaineers made the plays when they needed to make them down the stretch.
“We were awful. We couldn’t make a free throw, we couldn’t make a shot (but) they continue to battle,” said Huggins. “Devin was awful in the first half and came back and was a man in the second half.
“We’ve got to get some more consistency.”
Staten scored 18 points and handed out 12 assists while Williams had an 18-point, 12-rebound double-double.
Jonathan Holton scored 15 and grabbed eight boards before fouling out in overtime while Miles finished the game with 10.
“That game was over so many times and we just wouldn’t let it be over,” said Huggins. “We’re pretty resilient.”
Anderson led everyone with 22 - 16 of those coming in the first half - while Hill came off the bench to score 13 in his first Big 12 action of the season for the Horned Frogs.
The Mountaineers had a nine-point lead late in the first half and also had an eight-point lead midway through the second half.
Jaysean Paige and Tarik Phillip were dressed and sitting on the bench but didn’t see action in today’s game, which Huggins said was a “coaches decision” during his post-game radio show.
The Horned Frogs, looking for their first road win over a nationally ranked team in 17 years, falls to 14-5, 1-5.
“They drilled us on the glass and a lot of that was because we gave up so much penetration,” said Huggins. “TCU played great. (Coach) Trent (Johnson) had them ready to play.”
The Mountaineers have now won all six meetings against TCU, including one earlier this year in Fort Worth. A visibly upset Trent Johnson could be seen chasing down the officials running off the floor after the game to protest the call.
West Virginia, now 16-3, 4-2, travels to Kansas State to play the Wildcats on Tuesday night in Manhattan. That game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
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