West Virginia Knocks off No. 15 Auburn
Morgantown, WV - West Virginia guard Erik Stevenson went for a career-high 31 points as the Mountaineers (13-8) defeated the No. 15 Auburn Tigers (16-5) Saturday afternoon 80-77.
The Mountaineers fed the ball down low to forward Jimmy Bell Jr. early on consecutive possessions for a couple of baby hooks to jumpstart the Mountaineers to a 10-3 run to start the game.
Mountaineer guard Erik Stevenson buried his first two attempts from behind the arc, stretching the West Virginia lead to eleven, 23-12, at the midway point of the first half.
Stevenson continued his offensive onslaught in the first half, going into the break with 18 points as West Virginia held a 45-29 lead at halftime.
Auburn scored on its opening possession of the second half and West Virginia guard Kedrian Johnson answered with a three. However, the Tigers outscored the Mountaineers 12-5 in the first four minutes and got back within nine, 50-41.
The Tigers cut the lead to seven but forward Jimmy Bell Jr., again, with back-to-back buckets at the post and finished the series with the basket and the foul to push the Mountaineers back up 10.
Auburn answered with a 5-0 spurt to cut the Mountaineer lead in half, but Stevenson ended the run with a three and the Mountaineers held a 66-58 lead with just over eight minutes remaining.
West Virginia guard Erik Stevenson fist pumping the Mountaineer bench after WVU captured an early 12-5 lead.
Julia Mellett - Sports Illustrated: FanNation - Mountaineers Now
The Tigers continued their comeback behind the play of Johni Broome, producing all 15 of his points in the second half and got Auburn within a point but Bell answered on the following possession and Stevenson hit another three and West Virginia led 71-67 with 3:38 left to play in the game.
Auburn, again, cut the deficit to one but, again, Stevenson responded with a three and the Mountaineers back up four with two minutes remaining.
West Virginia went up six with just under a minute left in the game, but Auburn's Jaylin Williams connected with a deep three before West Virginia turned the ball over in the backcourt, giving the Tigers the ball down three with 32 seconds remaining.
The Mountaineers went 2-4 from the free throw line down the stretch, but were able to hold on for the 80-77 victory.
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