West Virginia vs. Creighton Preview & Game Thread

The West Virginia Mountaineers (19-14) take on the Creighton Blue Jays (15-16) in the semifinals of the College Basketball Crown Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 4:00 p.m. EST and the action will be televised on FOX.

West Virginia escaped with an 82-77 overtime win against Stanford in the opening round Thursday night. The Mountaineers led for most of the matchup before relinquishing the lead midway through the second half and trailed by eight with just over three minutes remaining. The WVU defense stood its ground as the Mountaineers chipped away at the lead. Then, Honor Huff was fouled just inside halfcourt while attempting a three and made all three free throws to send it to overtime.

Huff, the team's leading scorer at 16.0 ppg, led the Mountaineers with 21 points - 11 coming from the free throw line. Senior guard Treysen Eaglestaff put in 18 points, marking his second double figure output in 12 games. Senior forward Brenen Lorient is second on the team in scoring in scoring and rebounding, averaging 11.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, and came away with 14 points on Thursday.

Creighton seized the momentum early, but Rutgers battled back to take a two-point lead toward the end of the half. Nonetheless, Creighton took a three-point edge into the break and garnered a significant lead in the latter stage to pull away for the 82-69 victory.

Nik Graves scored a game-high 28 points - his first 20-point plus outburst of the season. The senior guard is second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.1 ppg to go with a team-best 4.4 assists per game. Senior guard Josh Dix leads the team in scoring at 13.1 ppg and was 4-8 from three-point range for 14 pints, while junior forward Jasen Green was a rebound shy of a double double with 16 points and nine rebounds. He's averaging 10.4 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game.

West Virginia and Creighton have met twice throughout their storied histories with both programs capturing wins.

GAME THREAD

U16 Timeout: Huff has a pair of threes and the Mountaineers have the early edge 10-3.

U12 Timeout: Creigton is starting to find a rhythm offensively and have cu the WVU lead to three, 16-13.

U8 Timeout: West Virginia has extended its lead to ten, 29-19. Freshman DJ Thomas leads all scorers with 12 points.

U4 Timeout: Creighton continues to battle and remains with striking distance. West Virginia senior center Harlan Obioha has been the recepient of some nice passes and has six points. WVU leads 40-32.

HALFTIME: West Virginia 43, Creighton 37. Thomas leads all scorers with 12 points. Huff has eight points, and senior forward Chance Moore recorded six points and seven rebounds.

U16 Timeut: West Virginia has stretched its lead to nine, 53-44, behind five second half points from Lorient.

U12 Timeout: West Virginia holds an nine-point edge 57-48.

U8 Timeout: The Mountaineers led by as many as 16 and hold a double digit advantage 65-63. Thomas leads all scorers with 18 points.

U4 Timeout: West Virginia is on a 13-3 run and lead 79-61.

FINAL: West Virginia 87, Creighton 80