MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In desperate need of a win, West Virginia looked like they were going to get their first Big 12 win of the season. The Mountaineers led by as many as 18, but a second-half furry from No. 14 TCU began to put the Mountaineers’ hopes in doubt.
A TCU (14-4, 2-4 Big 12) layup from Jakobe Coles cut the West Virginia lead to just two points with 5:14 to play. The Mountaineers would call a timeout and from that point on, West Virginia (11-7, 1-5 Big 12) went on a 12-5 run to close the final 4:47 as they beat the Horned Frogs 74-65 and picked up their first Big 12 win of the year, while also breaking a five-game losing streak.
Jimmy Bell would score five of the final 12 points for WVU as he had his second-career double-double. Bell made a pair of free throws before slamming home a dunk, and then made one more free throw before exiting to a standing ovation.
“I’ve been working on my free throws,” Bell said. . I’ve been shooting 200 almost every day.”
Bell finished the game with 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
“I thought Jimmy was terrific,” West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins. “Jimmy’s a guy who really cares, he’s a guy who works really hard.”
Bell along with Erik Stevenson set the tone early for West Virginia. Stevenson scored five early points for the Mountaineers, and then would add two assists — the first to Mohamed Wague in transition and the second on a lob to Emmitt Matthews to force a TCU timeout with WVU leading by eight.
West Virginia ended the half leading 39-24, as they forced nine turnovers leading to 14 points in the opening 20 minutes.
“This wasn’t a basketball game. This was a different game, it just was a different game,” TCU head coach Jamie Dixon said.
In the second half, West Virginia remained in front for the opening minutes. Matthews and Tre Mitchell both connected on three-pointers and WVU led 49-33 with 14:15 to play.
From the 11:10 mark of the second half to when TCU cut the West Virginia lead to two with 5:14 to play though, the Mountaineers would only score two baskets and make two free throws.
In the same six-minute stretch, the Horned Frogs scored 19 points, including eight from leading scorer Mike Miles. Miles got TCU within distance after hitting a three and then making the free throw after being fouled to pull TCU within six, before they got within a basket.
“I think they came out with an edge because we pretty much manhandled them in the first half,” Huggins said. “We didn’t come out with the same kind of edge, and we got a little careless with the ball.”
Down the stretch though, West Virginia would eventually weather the storm. West Virginia made six free throws in the final five minutes of the game, while TCU missed four shots in the same span helping West Virginia secure their first Big 12 victory of the season.
Kedrian Johnson led WVU with 20 points on the night. Johnson scored 10 points in the first half and went 10 for 10 from the free throw line on the evening.
“Keddy has been great,” Huggins said of Johnson. “He is, without a question, our leader. He’s the guy that really runs the show. He was good.”
West Virginia shot 46.3 percent from the field in the win, while only going 4 for 15 from three-point range. TCU shot 52.4 percent from the field, but their 19 turnovers led to 24 points for West Virginia.
West Virginia now stays at home as No. 7 Texas travels to the WVU Coliseum at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
