West Virginia used 25 points from senior Javon Small and withstood a furious second-half rally to defeat UCF 72-65 at the WVU Coliseum to conclude the regular season on Saturday night.
 
A sellout crowd celebrated WVU's 22-point first half lead and then sat on pins and needles in the second half when the Knights rallied to cut West Virginia's lead to 67-64, on Dior Johnson's driving layup. 
 
Freshman Jonathan Powell answered with a big 3 with 1:10 to go and then Small's two free throws with 15 seconds left iced the game.
 
The Mountaineers' largest lead was 27 at 47-20 with 1:40 left in the first half on one of Small's five 3s.
 
In the second half, West Virginia made just four field goals during an eight-minute stretch to allow UCF to claw back into the game.
 
Fifteen of West Virginia's 24 shot attempts in the second half came from behind the 3-point arc, and as a result, shot just 29.2%.
 
UCF made half of its 28 second-half field goal attempts and outscored the Mountaineers 40-25 after intermission.
 
"The second half didn't go the way we had planned, but what I love about this group is they stayed resilient when all the momentum had shifted, and they found a way to make some big plays," West Virginia coach Darian DeVries said afterward. 
 
Small's 25 came on seven-of-23 from the floor, five-of-15 from 3 and six-of-six from the free throw line.
 
"I hope people really appreciate what they saw this year from Javon," DeVries said. "Under the circumstances with everything, a new team, new coaches, and for him to put together the type of year he had it was just an incredible season for him. It was one of the best individual seasons that I've been around."
 
Amani Hansberry contributed 18 points and 10 rebounds and Powell added 15, a season-high for him in Big 12 play.

Johnson scored a game-high 27, while Keyshawn Hall, the Big 12's leading scorer, was held to just six points on one-of-10 shooting.
 
"I thought the guys did an incredible job, and it wasn't just the guys on him," DeVries said. "There were people behind him that did a really good job of not giving him some driving lanes and angles and were able to keep him out of the paint where he is so effective."
 
Moustapha Thiam scored 13 points for UCF, which falls to 16-15 overall and 7-13 in Big 12 play.
 
"In the second half, we just gave up too many transition points, and part of it was our offense just got stagnant playing in transition all the time," DeVries said. "Usually, that's a recipe for disaster. We just like to keep people entertained until the end."
 
Tonight's victory, before an announced crowd of 12,523, locks up a .500 record in conference play and an eighth-place finish, which gives West Virginia a bye in next week's Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.
 
"I'm incredibly proud of this group for ending it the right way for this group of seniors who put so much into this season," DeVries said. 
 
West Virginia, now 19-12 overall, also removes any remaining doubt about its NCAA Tournament status with the win.
 
Prior to tonight's game, West Virginia recognized its senior players in a ceremony on the court.