West Virginia Completes Comeback with a Thrilling OT Win Over Stanford

The West Virginia Mountaineers (19-14) trailed by eight with 3:21 left in the game and stormed back as senior guard Honor Huff sent the game into overtime with three free throws with three second remaining and outpaced the Stanford Cardinal (20-13) in OT, 82-77.

West Virginia seized an early 5-0 advantage after a bucket from senior center Harlan Obioha and senior forward Brenen Lorient received the pass from senior point guard Jasper Floyd on the right side of the lane, drew the foul and hit the contested bucket for the lead.

The Mountaineers and the Cardinal offenses were sluggish after three off weeks and combined to shoot 0-13 from three-point range before Stanford sophomore forward Aidan Cammann hit the game's first three, then WVU senior guard Treysen Eaglestaff responded on the other end to begin a stretch of seven consecutive Mountaineer field goals, expanding to 9-10 from the field, capped by an alley-opp from Obioha to Lorient for an eight-point advantage, 31-23.

Stanford was able to stay within striking distance behind Stanford freshman guard Ebuka Okorie's 11 first half points. The Cardinal cut the WVU lead in half after Okorie drove the lane, finishing on the left side and freshman forward Oskar Giltay followed with a bucket.

DJ Thomas made a case for the top play of the day, receiving the pass at the top of the key, utilized the pump fake and drove down the heart of the paint and finished with an electrifying tomahawk dunk to give the Mountaineers a six-point lead heading into the break, 35-29.

West Virginia struggled to find a groove int he early stages of the second half, but were a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line to hold a 45-37 lead at the 14:45 mark.

Stanford put together a 7-0 run behind the play of Okorie, attacking the rim to take a 53-51 lead. Eaglestaff responded with a drive to the bucket, but three's from redshirt junior guard Ryan Agarwal and Cammann on consecutive possession had the Cardina up four, 59-55, with 7:05 remaining in the game.

The Cardinal continued to apply pressure and a steal and a dunk by Okorie with just over four minutes to play put Stanford up eight, 65-57, with 4:21 left to play.

West Virginia cut it to four after Eaglestaff scored his 17th and 18th point from the free throw line and an offensive putback by Thomas had the Mountaineers right back in the game with 1:04 remaining on the clock.

The Mountaineers pulled within one when Lorient, with the clock winding down, drove to the basket for the bucket and the foul, although he missed the free throw, but the door was still open.

Stanford graduate senior Jeremy Dent-Smith was sent to the free throw line with nine second remaining, and he split the pair of free throws as Thomas brought down the rebound and found Huff for the outlet pass as he raced up the floor, put up a shot just over halfcourt and was fouled. The senior made all three free throws to send the game to overtime.

Agarwal opened overtime with a three-point play and then Obioha followed suit with an old fashioned three-point play to tie the game at 71.

The game became a free throw competition, with the only bucket coming from a one-legged jumper from Huff as WVU took a four-point lead with 2:28 remaining.

Stanford was one for their last seven from the field in overtime as the Mountaineers put the game away from the free throw line and escape with an 82-77 victory.

West Virginia awaits the winner between Rutgers and Creighton and will be back in action on Saturday, April 4. Tip-off is set for 4:00 p.m. EST and the action will be televised on FOX.