By: Shanna Rose
SALT LAKE CITY– Javon Small scored 18 points and dished out seven assists as West Virginia rallied to beat Utah 71-69 on Tuesday night at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
Small sank a 3-pointer and Eduardo Andre followed with an alley-oop dunk that led a 14-6 run to give the Mountaineers a 70-64 lead with 12 seconds to go.
However, the Utes weren’t going down without a fight and Gabe Madsen hit a 3-pointer and Jake Wahlin forced a turnover and scored a layup to pull Utah within one, 70-69 with just over a second left.
Sencire Harris made his second free throw and Joseph Yesufu blocked Madsen’s last chance 3 to win the game.
The victory was WVU’s sixth Quad 1 of the season, hopefully solidifying the Mountaineers’ NCAA bid.
WVU is still in contention for an eighth-place finish and an opening game bye in the Big 12 tournament next week in Kansas City.
In the first half, the Mountaineers (18-12, 9-10 Big 12) trailed 19-7 but clawed their way back with baskets from Small, Amani Hansberry, Joseph Yesufu and a 3-pointer from Jonathan Powell to cut the deficit to just two.
Then WVU used an 11-4 run over the remaining 4:05 to take a 30-29 lead into the locker room at halftime.
“We had a lot on the line for this game tonight and our guys knew that,” Mountaineers coach Darian DeVries said. “It’s easy when you don’t have it and you are not playing well to give into that, but I thought they just did a really good job of staying together in the huddles, continuing to fight and finding ways to make those little plays.”
After the break, Small scored nine points and Madsen had 13 for Utah. The Utes (16-14, 8-11) opened the second half with a 15-6 run to take their largest lead, 44-36, with 14 minutes to play before Small started the late run with 3:42 remaining.
“I thought in the second half we really dug in and make some stops as the half wore on, and then offensively I thought we found a little more rhythm getting in the paint and making plays for one another,” DeVries said.
Hansberry and Yesufu each had 12 points for the Mountaineers. Jonathan Powell added 10.
Madsen led Utah with 23 points and Mike Sharavjamts added 12. Ezra Ausar had 11 and five rebounds.
Former Mountaineer interim head coach and long-time assistant Josh Eilert served as the interim head coach for the Utes, who fired Craig Smith last week. Eilert joined the Utah coaching staff at the start of the season as an assistant coach.
WVU returns home on Saturday to face UCF on Senior Day. Tip off is at 5 p.m.
Photo Credit: WVU Athletics
