Morgantown, W.Va. — The opportunity was there for West Virginia against No. 7 Texas on Saturday night. The Mountaineers held Texas to only one field goal over the final 5:10 of regulation. West Virginia would struggle to score late, while turning the ball over 20 times in their 69-61 loss.
“You can’t turn the ball over 20 times,” Huggins said. “If you want to make a recipe for losing just go back and look at our last 10 minutes.”
In the final two minutes of the game, West Virginia (11-8, 1-6 Big 12) had two chances to cut into the Texas (16-3, 5-2 Big 12) lead. The Mountaineers trailed by four points with 2:04 to play. Out of a West Virginia timeout, Christian Bishop was able to get a hand on the in-bounds and give Texas possession. Marcus Carr made a pair of free throws to put the Longhorns in front by six.
West Virginia would then turn it over on the ensuing possession, as the Mountaineers went scoreless in the final 2:38 and made only one field goal in the final 4:22.
Carr would be clutch for Texas down the stretch, scoring the final six points of the game, as he had 19 of his game-high 23 points in the second half.
“Marcus all year long has kind of let the game come to him,” Texas head coach Rodney Terry said. “He got a couple really good looks and once he sees that basketball go through the basket it opens up a lot for him.”
“We just did a bad job,” Huggins said of his team’s defense on Carr. “We did everything pretty much opposite of what we planned to do.”
It was a back-and-forth first half between West Virginia and Texas with neither team being able to truly claim a lead. Texas led by as many five points in the first half, as they along with West Virginia struggled to get into a rhythm offensively.
Texas went 1 for 7 from beyond the arc with the only three-pointer coming on Sir’Jabari Rice to put the Longhorns up 11-6 with 14:36 to play in the first half.
West Virginia would have to turn to sophomore forward James Okonkwo at the center position as Jimmy Bell and Mohamed Wague both picked up two early fouls. Okonkwo would take advantage of the minutes, making a layup to stop the bleeding, before West Virginia tied it on a Tre Mitchell jumper.
Mitchell, the former Longhorn had nine points and five rebounds in the first half, including a jumper to give West Virginia their first lead of the game with 8:44 to play in the first half. The Mountaineers would stay in front for much of the remainder of the half.
Erik Stevenson hit a pair of free throws with eight seconds left to put the Mountaineers in front by four, but Marcus Carr hit a late jumper to send the Mountaineers into halftime leading 28-26.
In the second half, West Virginia came out and took advantage of Texas’ from three early. The Mountaineers made two threes from Kedrian Johnson and Seth Wilson within the first three minutes of the half.
Wilson’s three-pointer put the Mountaineers ahead by five, but things would come crashing down from there. Texas went on a quick 5-0 run forcing a timeout. West Virginia would miss their first three shots out of the timeout as Texas took a two-point lead on a Carr jumper.
“This was a really good team win,” Terry said. “We were going to have to come out and bring our best game tonight in terms of how hard we were going to try and compete and have an incredible competitive spirit.”
West Virginia would tie the game three times but could never regain the lead. The Mountaineers tied the game at 44-44 and had the chance to get a stop. Texas’ Dylan Disu got the rebound and then made a short jumper in the paint to put the Longhorns in front.
Texas was able to use West Virginia’s foul troubles to their advantage in the second half. The Mountaineers’ Jimmy Bell and Mohamed Wague both had three personal fouls within the first five minutes of the second half.
“Being able to neutralize their size inside and not let those guys be factors are a big part of the game,” Terry said. Not having that element today, I thought was very big for us.”
Texas had 16 points in the paint and another 17 at the free throw line in the second half. The Longhorns only had 10 points elsewhere.
West Virginia struggled offensively in the second half, with free throws becoming crucial. Johnson, who scored 17 of his career-high 22 points in the second, had a chance to make two free throws after a technical foul. Johnson would miss both and would end up missing four free throws on the night, with all the misses coming in the second half.
“Can’t make all of them,” Johnson said of the misses. “The misses are on me. I had some false mechanics at some points while shooting.”
The Mountaineers shot 38.5 percent from the field, while going 8 for 23 from beyond the arc. The Mountaineers shot just 36 percent from the field in the second half, after shooting 41 percent in the first.
Texas also shot 41 percent from the field in the first half but made almost 54 percent of their shots in the second half, while they only made three shots from three-point range.
The Mountaineers have now won just once since the beginning of the month, and will travel to face Texas Tech on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. in Lubbock, Texas.
