West Virginia Falls Short to No. 1 Gonzaga
West Virginia picked up their first loss of the season following a 87-82 defeat at the hands of No. 1 Gonzaga. Bob Huggins' squad hung tough but foul trouble hurt their chances of pulling off the upset.
The Mountaineers got the first points of the game on a tip in by big man Oscar Tshiebwe and had a chance to create a decent lead early as Gonzaga missed their first four shots from the field. West Virginia was unable to take advantage early on, but led 9-6 at the first media timeout thanks to a last second three-pointer from Deuce McBride and a couple of jumpers from Derek Culver and Tshiebwe.
McBride hit his 2nd three of the night right out of the TV timeout to stretch the early lead out to six, but that would not last long as Gonzaga roared back after trailing 17-11 to go on a 9-0 run and take their first lead of the game. The run was fueled by veterans Corey Kispert, Drew Timme, and Florida transfer Andrew Nembhard who all chipped into the offensive spark from the Zags.
West Virginia went back to what they do best and that's pounding the rock inside and dominating the glass on both ends of the floor. The trio of Oscar Tshiebwe, Derek Culver, and Gabe Osabuohien combined for 11 points in about a three minute span to push the Mountaineers ahead by nine. One of those buckets was a surprising three-point field goal from the defensive minded Osabuohien.
Gonzaga ended the Mountaineers' run by sinking a pair of threes in the final two minutes of play, cutting the lead down to just three. West Virginia's last possession of the first half was a near disaster as McBride was trapped near the sideline and was forced to call the team's 2nd timeout with just five seconds remaining on the shot clock. The play out of the timeout was designed for Jalen Bridges to hand it off to McBride at the top of the key and drive to the elbow to get up a shot before the shot clock expired. McBride was able to convert and it gave the Mountaineers a 39-34 lead at the half.
The Zags came out of the half ready to play, hitting three of their first four shots from the field, to go on a mini 6-0 run. Both teams saw their bigs get in foul trouble early in the 2nd half with both Corey Kispert of Gonzaga and Tshiebwe of West Virginia each picking up their third foul of the game.
The Bulldogs went on another mini run to retake the lead by four, but quickly came to an end after a made three from Taz Sherman. On West Virginia's next possession, Gabe Osabuohien saw a path to the bucket and attacked, made the shot, and drew the foul giving the lead back to the Mountaineers. After missing his first six shots of the game, Sean McNeil rung in his first three of the night. At the under 12 timeout, West Virginia had a slim 54-51 lead.
Gonzaga continued to attack the paint knowing that their best chance to gain a firm grasp of the game was to go right at West Virginia's bigs. Head coach Bob Huggins had no choice but to leave Tshiebwe in the game as he, Culver, and Osabuohien all had four fouls with over seven minutes left. Tshiebwe fouled out on a made bucket by Drew Timme, which put the Zags up three.
With Tshiebwe out of the game and the other bigs in major foul trouble, West Virginia had to generate offense somewhere other than inside and guard Taz Sherman stepped up by knocking down five straight free throws and driving the ball to the cup.
Minutes after Tshiebwe fouled out, Osabuohien joined him by picking up his fifth of the game on a very questionable call. That really hurt the Mountaineers' ability to attack the glass as Culver and true freshman Isaiah Cottrell were the only bigs left available for Bob Huggins.
Gonzaga hit a pair of free throws late to put the game out of reach and come away with a quality win over No. 11 West Virginia.
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