Matthews Jr. Saves His Best Performance for Last
Emmitt Matthews Jr. has averaged 5.9 points per game on 38% shooting this season. That changed on Saturday. The Tacoma, Washington native finished with a season-high 18 points while going 6-11 from the field in West Virginia's 76-64 senior day win over No. 4 Baylor.
Matthews was the only Mountaineer on the floor for more than 25 minutes, as he went 2-3 from behind the arc and finished 4-5 at the free throw line in 33 minutes of action.
"I wanted to show that I have a complete game and it's not just threes and fastbreaks," said Matthews. "I wanted to show that I could score at all three levels."
The sophomore forward was aggressive on Saturday. He played above the rim on many occasions, and knocked down some difficult shots over pesky Baylor defenders. It was a reminiscent of the same Emmitt Matthews Jr. that finished last season strong.
On the defensive end of the hardwood, West Virginia forced 16 Baylor turnovers and held the Bears to 25-59 (42%) shooting in the contest.
Matthews felt Saturday was one of his more impressive defensive performances of the season.
"Defensively, I was playing at a higher level of intensity than I have all season," said Matthews. "That's just the will to win, we all get it from Gabe [Osabuohien]. That's the mindset of this program. He came in and that's his mindset. We don't want anybody to score. I just locked in defensively and we got the win."
Saturday was filled with Senior Day festivities that featured Jermaine Haley, Chase Harler and Logan Routt being honored prior to tip-off. Matthews knew the importance that Saturday's game meant to his three teammates.
"Obviously we wanted to make sure they ended on a high note, and we want to play as many more games as we can before their time is done here."
The West Virginia Mountaineers postseason life starts Thursday at 9:00 p.m. EST against the Oklahoma Sooners in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament.
