West Virginia's Late Surge is Enough to Outlast Cincinnati

Morgantown, WV – West Virginia sophomore forward Amani Hansberry scored a game-high 17 points while the Mountaineers (16-10, 7-8) held the Cincinnati to 41% shooting from the field to knock off the Bearcats (15-11, 5-10) Wednesday night 62-59.

West Virginia grabbed an early 7-2 lead after senior guard Javon Small buried a three from the right wing, but Cincinnati bounced right back with sophomore guard Jizzle James hitting a tough jumper in the paint and junior guard Josh Reed drove the lane to pull the Bearcats within one at the 16:31 mark of the first half.

The Mountaineers steadily built a nine-point lead. Amani Hansberry hit his first three of the night from the left wing and Small drove the left baseline and ducked under for a reverse layup and later followed with his second triple from the right wing for a 25-16 lead with 8:26 remaining in the half.

Cincinnati answered with a 9-1 run with senior guard Day Day Thomas scoring five of his seven first half points to cut the WVU lead to one, 26-25 with 3:34 left to play in the half.

West Virginia senior center Eduardo Andre made a strong move on the block and got the bucket and the foul to extend the lead back to four, but the Mountaineers were held scoreless the final two minutes and an alley-oop on an out of bounds play from near halfcourt to Dillon Mitchell with a second remaining put the Mountaineer lead back to two, 29-27, at halftime.

Junior forward Dillon Mitchell opened the second half with a dunk and James followed with a mid-range jumper to give the Bearcats a 31-29 lead.

Day Day Thomas gave the Bearcats their first lead of the game with a three on the following possession, 36-33.

West Virginia regained the lead after freshman guard Jonathan Powell and sophomore guard Sencire Harris drove to the basket to give WVU the 37-36 advantage at the 15:33 mark of the second half.

The Mountaineers went cold, shooting just 1-10 from the floor, while the Bearcats took a six-point lead, 47-41, just over the midway point of the second half.

West Virginia responded with defensive intensity, and it carried over to the offensive end of the floor for a 17-3 run. Jonathan Powell buried a pair of threes and Hansberry had a triple to go with a pair of free throws before backing his man down for the bucket off the glass to give the Mountaineers a 58-50 lead with 1:29 left in the in the game.

Day Day Thomas ended the run with a three to get the Bearcats back within five, but on the ensuing WVU possession, Small stepped through a double team and found Powell underneath the basket for the easy lay-in s the shot clock expired to go up seven with 46 seconds remaining.

West Virginia was leading by nine until Dan Skillings Jr banked in a three, then the junior stole the inbounds pass and buried a corner three to cut the WVU lead to three with four seconds remaining.

Cincinnati forced another WVU turnover on the inbounds pass but freshman forward Tyler Betsy missed the straightaway three as time expired as the Mountaineers held off the Bearcats 62-59.