West Virginia (15-8, 6-4) managed to overcome a slow first half from their stars and complete the season sweep of Cincinnati (11-12, 3-7) with a 59-54 victory on Thursday. Read more: Huff’s hot second half propels WVU past Cincinnati.
The Mountaineers trailed by 14 points at one point and needed a late push from freshman DJ Thomas to get past the Bearcats. Honor Huff also had a huge second half, scoring all 17 of his points during that stretch.
First half
The Bearcats won the tip and quickly scored off a Jizzle James jump shot in front of their home crowd. After consecutive missed shots from both teams, Jasper Floyd scored West Virginia’s first bucket of the night with a tough turnaround jumper.
However, that would be the only field goal for the Mountaineers until over six minutes later. At the same time, Cincinnati continued to pour it on, with James leading the way.
During WVU’s drought, the junior guard scored eight of his team’s 12 points. Senior forward Baba Miller added to the run with four points of his own, both in the paint.
Harlan Obioha broke the scoreless stretch for WVU with a pair of free throws at the 13:13 mark. Floyd quickly tacked on another two with another turnaround fadeaway. Cincinnati’s Jalen Celestine quieted the Mountaineers’ surge with a three-pointer following a missed three from Huff.
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After back-to-back turnovers from WVU, former Mountaineer Sencire Harris connected on a layup for his new team. However, Brenen Lorient responded with a crafty nine-foot floater. After a missed Bearcat shot, Floyd scored his sixth point of the night with a layup.
WVU stars struggle
Both teams continued to struggle find consistent points past the eight-minute media timeout, with turnovers and missed shots plaguing both. Notably, Huff and Treysen Eaglestaff remained scoreless for the entire half.
The Mountaineers, however, were able to find much-needed help from their supporting cast with just under four minutes left before halftime. Thomas finished a layup, which was followed by four straight points from Lorient.
That little spark is all West Virginia needed to shrink Cincinnati’s lead to seven. After a lone free throw from Harris and a last-second contested layup from Miller, the Bearcats went into their locker room up 30-20.
Second half
West Virginia opened the second half much like the latter with a turnover and a pair of missed field goals. Miller broke the scoring cap for both teams with a pair of free throws just over a minute into the half. Obioha quickly answered with a layup.
Jalen Celestine immediately brought the Bearcats lead back to 1o with a three-pointer. Day Day Thomas added to Cincinnati burst with a smooth 12-foot jumper. That forced WVU Head Coach Ross Hodge to call a timeout with 16:06 left in the half.
Moore provided a spark for the Mountaineers after the break by making a driving layup through contact. He could not convert on the three-point play after the 16:00 minute media timeout.
Miller missed on a long three for the Bearcats, which allowed Huff to hit his first three of the night. Thomas was able to respond with his own three to give his team a 12-point lead.
Huff’s barrage
Huff, without hesitation, managed to cut that lead in half with back-to-back threes. Following a James travelling violation, Huff added three more points to his total after finishing through contact on a jumper.
That forced a Cincinnati timeout, but Huff continued to pour it on after the break by connecting on a layup despite the contact. Eaglestaff scored his first points of the night with a three pointer, which gave West Virginia its first lead since the opening bucket from Floyd.
James quickly tied it back up after hitting a 16-foot jumper. Jenkins managed to take advantage of a bad pass from Miller and scored on a transition layup right before the eight-minute intermission.
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Both teams struggled for the next four minutes as neither could take advantage of the other squad’s turnovers. Thomas managed to break the tie with a three pointer. Huff added a free throw, and Miller scored two of his own free throws to bring WVU’s lead to one with 2:10 left.
Thomas connected on a timely three-pointer after a long offensive possession for the Mountaineers. The Texas native continued to step up after making both free throws with 51 seconds left.
James managed to connect on a three after, but it was not enough. Huff and Lorient combined for three more points to finish the comeback.
Top performers
WVU: Honor Huff- scored a team high 17 points, which all came in the second half.
WVU: DJ Thomas- right behind Huff with 14 points. The freshman came up huge late in the second half that helped WVU complete the comeback.
UC: Jizzle James- led the team in scoring with 18 points and played the most minutes (35).
What’s next
West Virginia will now aim to take down one of Big 12’s elite, the Texas Tech Raiders. The two teams will face off in Morgantown on February 8, at 1 p.m.
As always, you can tune into all WVU games on the John Frederick Media Network radio affliates.
