Friday, November 9
Morgantown, W.Va.
9:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
0-1
94
vs
99 OT
Buffalo
1-0
| Team | 1 | 2 | OT 1 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo | 30 | 54 | 15 | 99 |
| West Virginia | 38 | 46 | 10 | 94 |
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Mountaineers Drop Opener In Overtime
November 10, 2018 01:02 AM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – C.J. Massinburg poured in a career-high 43 points to lead Buffalo to a 99-94 overtime victory over 13th-ranked West Virginia here at the WVU Coliseum Friday night.
His 43 points were four shy of the WVU Coliseum record of 47 established by Notre Dame All-America guard Austin Carr 47 years ago on Feb. 20, 1971, and were the most points scored against the Mountaineers since Duquesne's Mark Stevenson dropped in 43 at the A.J. Palumbo Center on Jan. 30, 1990.
Massinburg did just about everything tonight for the Bulls with the exception of driving the team bus. He hit 12 of his 22 shot attempts, including 9 of 15 from 3, made all 10 of his second-half free throw attempts to finish 10 of 12 from the line, grabbed 14 rebounds and handed out three assists.
Buffalo's other 10 players were just 2 of 22 from 3.
"We didn't shoot the ball well early, but I told our guys to hang in there and they'd start dropping eventually," victorious Buffalo coach Nate Oats said.
West Virginia, playing for the first time in four years without All-American guard Jevon Carter, came out on fire to build an early eight-point lead. The Bulls (2-0) battled back to take a pair of four-point leads before the Mountaineers used back-to-back 3s from Chase Harler and Beetle Bolden, and then another 3 from Bolden to go ahead by seven, 31-24.
Bolden also dropped in a driving layup ahead of the horn to give the Mountaineers an eight-point halftime advantage.
In the second half, West Virginia (0-1) built its lead to 13 on Lamont West's 3 from the corner, making it 49-36, and once again at 71-58 on Logan Routt's bucket just ahead of the eight-minute timeout.
WVU maintained its double-digit margin on three Bolden free throws with 4:43 remaining, but Bolden soon had to leave the game with severe leg cramping and did not return.
Consequently, West Virginia's only field goal for the remainder of regulation was Andrew Gordon's loose-ball basket with 3:58 left, which made the score 81-73.
And that's when Massinburg took over.
His 3s on consecutive possessions pulled Buffalo to within two, 81-79, and then another deep triple with 16 seconds left tied the game at 84.
Following two Mountaineer timeouts, the second one used when Esa Ahmad couldn't inbound the basketball underneath Buffalo's basket, West Virginia had an opportunity to win it in regulation. As time was winding down, however, freshman point guard Brandon Knapper struggled to get WVU into its offensive set deep in the backcourt. He eventually got the ball to West standing well beyond the 3-point line for a desperation shot that failed to draw iron. Sagaba Konate grabbed the offensive rebound but was unable to get off another attempt ahead of the buzzer.
The Mountaineers' next field goal didn't come until 41 seconds were remaining in overtime, that coming on Ahmad's layup.
By then Buffalo was leading by 10.
"I'm afraid we don't have the kind of people who can win when there is equal talent," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "Tough guys are going to win and they were the tough guys tonight."
Jeremy Harris contributed 16, Jeyvon Graves scored 14 and forward Nick Perkins, who sat out most of the second half in foul trouble, added 10 for the Bulls.
Buffalo beat West Virginia in every category the Mountaineers have relied on during their most recent run of success that has seen them win 105 games over the last four years and reach the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 three times.
The Bulls took 14 more shot attempts, grabbed 21 offensive rebounds and forced the Mountaineers into committing 19 turnovers, although several of those miscues were self-inflicted.
"They've done to us exactly what we've done to other people for years," Huggins explained. "We've turned other people over. They got 12 more possessions than we got. They out-rebound us by four and they had (21) offensive rebounds. That's never happened against us before.
"That didn't happen at Walsh College, Akron, Cincinnati, Kansas State and here," he added.
Before leaving, a heavily bandaged and taped-up Bolden scored a career-high 22 points and was clearly West Virginia's most effective backcourt player. West contributed 21 while Konate and Ahmad added 15 each for the Mountaineers, which dropped their home opener for the first time since 1989 when Robert Morris defeated them 75-67.
Robert Morris that season won 21 games and earned an NCAA Tournament bid. WVU, too, went on to have an outstanding year by winning 26 games before losing to Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
An announced crowd of 12,657 attended tonight's game.
West Virginia now has six days back in the gym before facing Monmouth on Thursday, Nov. 15, in Conway, South Carolina, in the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
That game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
His 43 points were four shy of the WVU Coliseum record of 47 established by Notre Dame All-America guard Austin Carr 47 years ago on Feb. 20, 1971, and were the most points scored against the Mountaineers since Duquesne's Mark Stevenson dropped in 43 at the A.J. Palumbo Center on Jan. 30, 1990.
Massinburg did just about everything tonight for the Bulls with the exception of driving the team bus. He hit 12 of his 22 shot attempts, including 9 of 15 from 3, made all 10 of his second-half free throw attempts to finish 10 of 12 from the line, grabbed 14 rebounds and handed out three assists.
Buffalo's other 10 players were just 2 of 22 from 3.
"We didn't shoot the ball well early, but I told our guys to hang in there and they'd start dropping eventually," victorious Buffalo coach Nate Oats said.
West Virginia, playing for the first time in four years without All-American guard Jevon Carter, came out on fire to build an early eight-point lead. The Bulls (2-0) battled back to take a pair of four-point leads before the Mountaineers used back-to-back 3s from Chase Harler and Beetle Bolden, and then another 3 from Bolden to go ahead by seven, 31-24.
Bolden also dropped in a driving layup ahead of the horn to give the Mountaineers an eight-point halftime advantage.
In the second half, West Virginia (0-1) built its lead to 13 on Lamont West's 3 from the corner, making it 49-36, and once again at 71-58 on Logan Routt's bucket just ahead of the eight-minute timeout.
WVU maintained its double-digit margin on three Bolden free throws with 4:43 remaining, but Bolden soon had to leave the game with severe leg cramping and did not return.
Consequently, West Virginia's only field goal for the remainder of regulation was Andrew Gordon's loose-ball basket with 3:58 left, which made the score 81-73.
And that's when Massinburg took over.
His 3s on consecutive possessions pulled Buffalo to within two, 81-79, and then another deep triple with 16 seconds left tied the game at 84.
Following two Mountaineer timeouts, the second one used when Esa Ahmad couldn't inbound the basketball underneath Buffalo's basket, West Virginia had an opportunity to win it in regulation. As time was winding down, however, freshman point guard Brandon Knapper struggled to get WVU into its offensive set deep in the backcourt. He eventually got the ball to West standing well beyond the 3-point line for a desperation shot that failed to draw iron. Sagaba Konate grabbed the offensive rebound but was unable to get off another attempt ahead of the buzzer.
The Mountaineers' next field goal didn't come until 41 seconds were remaining in overtime, that coming on Ahmad's layup.
By then Buffalo was leading by 10.
"I'm afraid we don't have the kind of people who can win when there is equal talent," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "Tough guys are going to win and they were the tough guys tonight."
Jeremy Harris contributed 16, Jeyvon Graves scored 14 and forward Nick Perkins, who sat out most of the second half in foul trouble, added 10 for the Bulls.
Buffalo beat West Virginia in every category the Mountaineers have relied on during their most recent run of success that has seen them win 105 games over the last four years and reach the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 three times.
The Bulls took 14 more shot attempts, grabbed 21 offensive rebounds and forced the Mountaineers into committing 19 turnovers, although several of those miscues were self-inflicted.
"They've done to us exactly what we've done to other people for years," Huggins explained. "We've turned other people over. They got 12 more possessions than we got. They out-rebound us by four and they had (21) offensive rebounds. That's never happened against us before.
"That didn't happen at Walsh College, Akron, Cincinnati, Kansas State and here," he added.
Before leaving, a heavily bandaged and taped-up Bolden scored a career-high 22 points and was clearly West Virginia's most effective backcourt player. West contributed 21 while Konate and Ahmad added 15 each for the Mountaineers, which dropped their home opener for the first time since 1989 when Robert Morris defeated them 75-67.
Robert Morris that season won 21 games and earned an NCAA Tournament bid. WVU, too, went on to have an outstanding year by winning 26 games before losing to Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
An announced crowd of 12,657 attended tonight's game.
West Virginia now has six days back in the gym before facing Monmouth on Thursday, Nov. 15, in Conway, South Carolina, in the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
That game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
Team Stats
BUFFALO
WVU
FG%
.400
.439
3FG%
.297
.333
FT%
.750
.714
RB
50
46
TO
11
19
STL
8
4
Game Leaders
Pts
22
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
7
Pts
21
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
6
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
F
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