West Virginia Held Scoreless in the Final Two Minutes and Falls to BYU

The Mountaineers could not get a bucket in the final minutes to secure a win over the Cougars

BYU guard Demin Egor / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

Morgantown, WV – The West Virginia Mountaineers (15-9, 6-7) battled but the BYU Cougars (16-8, 7-6) scored five unanswered points in the final two minutes to escape the WVU Coliseum with a 73-69 win Tuesday night.

West Virginia senior guard Toby Okani and freshman guard Demin Egor scored game-highs of 16 points.

West Virginia sophomore Sencire Harris started the game with a drive to the basket and the foul for the early 3-0 lead.

Toby Okani scored six straight capped with an emphatic dunk off the assist from Javon Small to take a 14-7 lead at the 14:31 mark of the first half.

BYU answered with an 8-0 run, behind a pair of three from junior guard Dallin Hall to take a 15-14 lead.

West Virgnia freshman guard KJ tenner quickly responded with a three, then senior guard Joseph Yesufu drove the lane and the Mountaineers were back up four near the midway point of the first half.

Freshman Kanon Catchings regained the Cougars lead with a three and a pair of free throws, but Small buried a corner three and Yesufu followed suit as the Mountaineers were back up four with just over three minutes left in the first half.

Senior guard Trey Stewart buried a three with 17 second remaining but Powell hit a corner three as time expired to give WVU a 44-32 lead heading into halftime.

Javon Small opened the second half lead with a three, then moments later, Powell hit another three to push the WVU lead up to six at the 18:13 mark.

BYU tied the game at the midway point of the second half off a Catchings three, but the Mountaineer defense held the Cougars scoreless for three minutes while building a six-point advantage with 6:33 remaining in the game.

The Cougars put together a 9-0 run to take their first second half lead before Yesufu drover the baseline, got the bucket and the foul to tie the game at 65.

Demin Egor followed with a three from the left wing as the shot clock expired to put the Cougars back up three, but Okani got consecutive offensive putbacks to regain the WVU lead 69-68 with 2:13 left to play.

West Virginia struggled to convert in the final two minutes of the game while BYU scored five-straight to secure the 73-69 victory.

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