National Basketball Association
West Virginia 72, Louisville 70
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 5, 2011
Where: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia
Officials:
# Jeff Clark, # Ed Corbett, #0 Sean Corbin
Attendance:
15032
By SportsDirect Inc.
Darryl Bryant sank two free throws with .6 seconds left after Casey Mitchell drained a deep 3-pointer, lifting West Virginia to an improbable 72-70 win over No. 11 Louisville on Saturday.
The win gives the Mountaineers (20-10, 11-7 Big East) a first-round bye in the conference tournament.
The Cardinals led by five with 25 seconds to play, but the Mountaineers battled back, tying the game when Mitchell came off a pick and drained the game-tying shot from the left wing, his second 3-pointer in nine seconds.
Louisville rushed up the court, but Preston Knowles missed a 3-pointer. Bryant rebounded and was inexplicably fouled 75 feet away from the basket by Knowles, setting up the game-winning charity shots.
Kevin Jones posted his third consecutive double-double with 25 points and 16 rebounds – a career-high 11 on the offensive glass - for the Mountaineers, who will open defense of their Big East Conference tournament title later this week.
Kyle Kuric scored 21 points and Knowles added 15 for Louisville (24-8, 12-6) which had already clinched the third seed in the Big East tournament and a double-bye.
The Mountaineers held a 48-20 edge on the glass – including 24-5 on the offensive end.
The Cardinals used a 16-7 run midway through the second half to turn a 51-47 deficit into a 63-58 lead with 4 ½ minutes left.
Kuric started the burst with a four-point play followed by a 3-pointer, and Chris Smith’s shot from the arc provided Louisville a 57-56 lead. Later in the surge, Knowles came up with a steal that resulted in a fast-break layup by Smith, and Knowles drained a 3-pointer to provide the five-point edge that held up until the end.
Top Game Performances
| Louisville |
|
West Virginia |
|
Kyle Kuric 21 |
Scoring |
Kevin Jones 25 |
|
Peyton Siva 6 |
Assists |
Joe Mazzulla 5 |
|
Terrence Jennings 4 |
Rebounds |
Kevin Jones 16 |
|
Chris Smith 7 |
Free Throws Made |
Cam Thoroughman 6 |
|
Gorgui Dieng 2 |
Steals |
Joe Mazzulla 2 |
|
Terrence Jennings 1 |
Blocks |
John Flowers 6 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Louisville
|
70 |
41.7 |
8-20 |
22-32 |
14 |
20 |
1 |
12 |
|
| West Virginia
|
72 |
33.9 |
4-24 |
26-29 |
12 |
48 |
6 |
5 |
|
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