National Basketball Association
West Virginia 68, Buffalo 62
When: 2:10 PM ET, Friday, March 20, 2015
Where: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Officials:
# Ron Groover, # Wally Rutecki, # Raymond Styons
Attendance:
18417
By SportsDirect Inc.
West Virginia 68, Buffalo 62: Devin Williams scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the fifth-seeded Mountaineers withstood a late comeback to advance to the NCAA Tournament round of 32 in Columbus, Ohio.
Juwan Staten scored 15 points to go with seven assists in his return to the lineup following a four-game injury absence, helping send the West Virginia (24-9) into a matchup with No. 4 seed Maryland on Sunday. Daxter Miles Jr. was also in double figures with 10 points and Tarik Phillip buried a huge 3-pointer with 28.4 seconds left.
Xavier Ford, the MVP of the Mid-American Conference tournament, scored 11 of his team-high 16 points in the second half to rally 12th-seeded Buffalo (23-10), which erased an 11-point deficit in its first NCAA Tournament appearance. Shannon Evans added 15 points and Justin Moss contributed 13 and seven boards for the Bulls.
The Mountaineers bolted to a 13-point lead before Buffalo hit six straight shots to pull within 29-26, but West Virginia closed the half with a 7-0 spurt to take a 36-26 edge into the break. The Bulls scored the first seven points after intermission but the Mountaineers knocked down seven of their first nine shots for an 11-point lead with 12 minutes to play.
Buffalo kept chipping away, scoring eight straight points from the free-throw line before Ford sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a three-point play to knot it at 62 with 2:41 to play. Williams hit two free throws with 2:10 remaining before Phillip supplied the dagger with a clock shot-beating 3-pointer for a 67-62 lead with 28.4 seconds to go.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Williams rolled his right ankle with 6:21 to play but returned moments later to grab three key rebounds and hit a pair of free throws down the stretch. ... Buffalo averaged 11.3 turnovers during the season but committed 12 in the first half and 17 overall against West Virginia, which forced a nation-leading 19.6 per game. ... Mountaineers G Gary Browne, who missed the previous three games due to an ankle injury, scored five points in his return to the lineup.
Top Game Performances
| Buffalo |
|
West Virginia |
|
Xavier Ford 16 |
Scoring |
Devin Williams 17 |
|
Lamonte Bearden 6 |
Assists |
Juwan Staten 7 |
|
Justin Moss 7 |
Rebounds |
Devin Williams 9 |
|
Justin Moss 7 |
Free Throws Made |
Devin Williams 7 |
|
Xavier Ford 2 |
Steals |
Jevon Carter 2 |
|
Shannon Evans 1 |
Blocks |
Jonathan Holton 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Buffalo
|
62 |
45.5 |
6-16 |
16-25 |
12 |
27 |
3 |
4 |
17 |
| West Virginia
|
68 |
44.9 |
5-16 |
19-27 |
11 |
29 |
1 |
7 |
12 |
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