Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Second-Half Comebacks Now Trending for the Mountaineers
January 26, 2021 01:48 PM | Men's Basketball, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Have you caught your breath yet?
Second-half comebacks are now trending for Bob Huggins' 11th-ranked West Virginia University men's basketball team.
Three weeks ago, we watched a comeback for the record books when the Mountaineers overcame an 18-point deficit with 11:15 remaining to stun Oklahoma State 87-84 in Stillwater.
On Monday night at the WVU Coliseum, we saw a comeback for the ages when WVU, down 73-61 with 7:53 left, went on a 27-14 tear to knock off 10th-ranked Texas Tech 88-87.
Deuce McBride's short jumper with six seconds left held up when Mac McClung could not to get his answer to drop just ahead of the horn.
McBride's difficult shot over three defenders capped a 9:30 stretch that saw the Mountaineers make all 10 of their field goal attempts.
When was the last time that happened, if ever?
Derek Culver, Sean McNeil, McBride, Kedrian Johnson and Taz Sherman all hit their shot attempts during the comeback. McBride was particularly lethal, going 5-of-5 with two of those coming from behind the 3-point arc.
"You go 10-for-10 down the stretch, you are going to win a bunch of games," Huggins said. "We were just our own worst enemy for the first 32 minutes, and then the ball started going in for us."
"When a team goes 12-for-19 from the 3-point line, it's obviously a great night shooting," Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said. "If you dissect the 12 makes like we will, several of them, or at least a decent percentage, are going to be our fault. We had defensive mistakes and breakdowns."
West Virginia also made its free throws when Huggins had his best free throw shooters on the floor during crunch time. McBride was 5-of-5 inside of six minutes to go, and Sherman knocked down both of his free throws with 4:23 left.
It's Huggins' 21st win at West Virginia against Top 10 teams - 13 more than Gale Catlett, 14 more than John Beilein and 17 more than Fred Schaus and George King each had during West Virginia's Golden Era of basketball in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Last night's victory was as much Bob Huggins as it was his guys making shots in the clutch.
After all, his team was at a significant disadvantage because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Texas Tech had nine days to rest and prepare for Monday night's game after its home game last Saturday against Iowa State was postponed.
That's nine days to come up with a plan to stop West Virginia and nine day's-worth of rest to give it the extra energy it needed to pull out a tough road game in the second half.
The Mountaineers (11-4, 4-3) didn't have a full team to practice until last Friday afternoon, one day before their 22-point road win at Kansas State. An evening flight back to Morgantown preceded a one-day prep before facing the No. 10 team in the country.
Understanding this, Huggins spread the minutes around as evenly as possible to try and keep his guys fresh. He used freshman Seny Ndiaye in the first half right before timeouts to try and steal a few extra minutes of rest for Culver.
He used Gabe Osabuohien to set screens, pass, rebound and defend in the second half when he went to a smaller lineup once the Red Raiders built their double-digit lead. Once again, Gabe did things that don't show up in the box score.
"I thought Gabe had a great spring for Sean when we were running the flat screen for Deuce," Huggins explained. "Sean was wide open, and they gang-guard you anyways, so we knew they were going to gang up on whoever drove it into the lane. It was just a matter if we could pitch it back."
He also used Johnson with McBride in the backcourt to try and disrupt Texas Tech's rhythm. As a bonus, Johnson responded with a big 3 with 6:25 left to reduce the Red Raiders' lead to seven.
Huggins even threw up a zone defense briefly just to try and change things up a little bit.
All of it worked, including his game-winning play at the end. An exchange of timeouts for extra strategy resulted in Huggins drawing up a clear-out for McBride to take the ball to the basket with his dominant hand from the right side of the floor.
There was an option for Sherman trailing if McBride met resistance, or another option for freshman Jalen Bridges sitting in the corner. Huggins said on his postgame radio show that associate head coach Larry Harrison was the one who came up with the play.
"We just wanted to give Deuce a head of steam and clear a side for him. If he got stopped, then Taz was supposed to circle behind him," Huggins explained. "If they all collapsed on Deuce then Taz would have gotten a shot.
"If Deuce couldn't turn the corner that's why we subbed J.B. (freshman Jalen Bridges)," Huggins added. "We had him in the corner so we really had three options. The first one was the one we really wanted, and Deuce did a great job."
Of course, McBride didn't need to kick it and once he made the shot, his teammates were alert enough to pick up McClung racing down the other end of the floor. They forced him to take a very difficult shot going away from the rim instead of toward it.
"I thought we had pretty good ball pressure on them, and I thought Derek stepped up and challenged it, which kind of made him (shoot) it a little higher than he wanted," Huggins said. "I have to look at the film and make sure, but I think that's what happened."
It's pretty safe to say a lot of people will be re-watching this one again on their DVRs!
That's how you win tough Big 12 basketball games when the odds are not in your favor.
And that's why Bob Huggins has 892 wins and counting.
Second-half comebacks are now trending for Bob Huggins' 11th-ranked West Virginia University men's basketball team.
Three weeks ago, we watched a comeback for the record books when the Mountaineers overcame an 18-point deficit with 11:15 remaining to stun Oklahoma State 87-84 in Stillwater.
On Monday night at the WVU Coliseum, we saw a comeback for the ages when WVU, down 73-61 with 7:53 left, went on a 27-14 tear to knock off 10th-ranked Texas Tech 88-87.
Deuce McBride's short jumper with six seconds left held up when Mac McClung could not to get his answer to drop just ahead of the horn.
McBride's difficult shot over three defenders capped a 9:30 stretch that saw the Mountaineers make all 10 of their field goal attempts.
When was the last time that happened, if ever?
Derek Culver, Sean McNeil, McBride, Kedrian Johnson and Taz Sherman all hit their shot attempts during the comeback. McBride was particularly lethal, going 5-of-5 with two of those coming from behind the 3-point arc.
"You go 10-for-10 down the stretch, you are going to win a bunch of games," Huggins said. "We were just our own worst enemy for the first 32 minutes, and then the ball started going in for us."
"When a team goes 12-for-19 from the 3-point line, it's obviously a great night shooting," Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said. "If you dissect the 12 makes like we will, several of them, or at least a decent percentage, are going to be our fault. We had defensive mistakes and breakdowns."
West Virginia also made its free throws when Huggins had his best free throw shooters on the floor during crunch time. McBride was 5-of-5 inside of six minutes to go, and Sherman knocked down both of his free throws with 4:23 left.
It's Huggins' 21st win at West Virginia against Top 10 teams - 13 more than Gale Catlett, 14 more than John Beilein and 17 more than Fred Schaus and George King each had during West Virginia's Golden Era of basketball in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Last night's victory was as much Bob Huggins as it was his guys making shots in the clutch.
After all, his team was at a significant disadvantage because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Texas Tech had nine days to rest and prepare for Monday night's game after its home game last Saturday against Iowa State was postponed.
That's nine days to come up with a plan to stop West Virginia and nine day's-worth of rest to give it the extra energy it needed to pull out a tough road game in the second half.
The Mountaineers (11-4, 4-3) didn't have a full team to practice until last Friday afternoon, one day before their 22-point road win at Kansas State. An evening flight back to Morgantown preceded a one-day prep before facing the No. 10 team in the country.
Understanding this, Huggins spread the minutes around as evenly as possible to try and keep his guys fresh. He used freshman Seny Ndiaye in the first half right before timeouts to try and steal a few extra minutes of rest for Culver.
He used Gabe Osabuohien to set screens, pass, rebound and defend in the second half when he went to a smaller lineup once the Red Raiders built their double-digit lead. Once again, Gabe did things that don't show up in the box score.
"I thought Gabe had a great spring for Sean when we were running the flat screen for Deuce," Huggins explained. "Sean was wide open, and they gang-guard you anyways, so we knew they were going to gang up on whoever drove it into the lane. It was just a matter if we could pitch it back."
He also used Johnson with McBride in the backcourt to try and disrupt Texas Tech's rhythm. As a bonus, Johnson responded with a big 3 with 6:25 left to reduce the Red Raiders' lead to seven.
Huggins even threw up a zone defense briefly just to try and change things up a little bit.
All of it worked, including his game-winning play at the end. An exchange of timeouts for extra strategy resulted in Huggins drawing up a clear-out for McBride to take the ball to the basket with his dominant hand from the right side of the floor.
There was an option for Sherman trailing if McBride met resistance, or another option for freshman Jalen Bridges sitting in the corner. Huggins said on his postgame radio show that associate head coach Larry Harrison was the one who came up with the play.
"We just wanted to give Deuce a head of steam and clear a side for him. If he got stopped, then Taz was supposed to circle behind him," Huggins explained. "If they all collapsed on Deuce then Taz would have gotten a shot."If Deuce couldn't turn the corner that's why we subbed J.B. (freshman Jalen Bridges)," Huggins added. "We had him in the corner so we really had three options. The first one was the one we really wanted, and Deuce did a great job."
Of course, McBride didn't need to kick it and once he made the shot, his teammates were alert enough to pick up McClung racing down the other end of the floor. They forced him to take a very difficult shot going away from the rim instead of toward it.
"I thought we had pretty good ball pressure on them, and I thought Derek stepped up and challenged it, which kind of made him (shoot) it a little higher than he wanted," Huggins said. "I have to look at the film and make sure, but I think that's what happened."
It's pretty safe to say a lot of people will be re-watching this one again on their DVRs!
That's how you win tough Big 12 basketball games when the odds are not in your favor.
And that's why Bob Huggins has 892 wins and counting.
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