TCU Loses To West Virginia
FORT WORTH, Texas — West Virginia’s Tarik Phillip sank a 3-pointer from the right wing and flexed at the TCU fans jeering courtside.
When Daxter Miles drilled a follow-up 3-pointer moments later and Jaysean Paige buried one from the corner, the guards for the 17th-ranked Mountaineers had buried the Horned Frogs’ upset bid.
With Paige scoring 20, Phillip adding 18 and Miles pitching in 14, the Mountaineers overcame a seven-point, second-half deficit and massive foul trouble to stave off the Frogs 95-87.
“It’s always fun when you’re winning,” said Phillip, who chirped with the home crowd throughout the second half. “Heckling fans. Regular Big 12 stuff.”
West Virginia (13-1, 2-0 Big 12) completed a three-game road sweep because its guards scored 48 of the team’s 50 points after halftime. Guard Jevon Carter scored eight of his 13 points after the break, too.
The backcourt production became a necessity when forwards Devin Williams and Elijah Macon fouled out and three other forwards picked up their fourth fouls with 10 minutes remaining.
Jonathan Holton finished with 15 points — including the only basket by a West Virginia big man in the second half — and Williams scored 13, spending the final 19:11 on the bench as he rooted on the guards.
West Virginia’s 9-for-17 shooting from 3-point range took up the slack.
Paige and Phillip were both 2-for-2 from deep and combined to shoot 11-for-16 overall.
“Tarik is so competitive. He as much as anybody willed us to win,” said Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins. “Then Jaysean comes in and gets 20 in 15 minutes. We’re pretty good when he stays in the game.”
Reserve guard Chauncey Collins poured in 20 points to fuel TCU (8-6, 0-2). The Horned Frogs made 35 of 40 at the foul line and finished plus-four in turnovers, yet they fell to 0-7 all-time against West Virginia.
Center Karviar Shepherd finished with 18, more than double his season average, and guard Malique Trent scored 15 as the Frogs slipped to 2-28 against ranked teams under coach Trent Johnson.
“I’m tired and they should be tired of playing good teams and getting close,” Johnson said. “This moral victory stuff is long gone.”
The Mountaineers trailed 60-53 before recovering with a 13-2 run. After TCU pulled ahead 75-74, West Virginia’s 3-point barrage launched a 14-2 run.
“It would’ve been a loss without those guys,” Williams said of West Virginia’s small-ball approach. “We just made it work. I don’t know how TCU is going to pan out this year, but you can’t sleep on people like that.”
West Virginia committed 21 first-half fouls — including three each for Williams, forwards Elijah Macon and Jonathan Holton and guard Jaysean Paige — a frenzy of whistles that left TCU shooting the double bonus for the final 15 minutes before the break.
Collins’ free throw completed a four-point play during a 13-0 run that surged the Frogs ahead 26-20.
Though Williams and Holton produced big halves, with 13 points and five rebounds each, West Virginia trailed 47-45 at the break.
The Frogs sank 22 first-half free throws, nine more than their per-game average. Shepherd, who averaged 8.5 points per game, sank all six of his early free throws and had 10 points at intermission.
