Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia rallied from five points down in the final minutes to secure a 62-60 victory over Cincinnati at Hope Coliseum on Tuesday night.
The Bearcats (8-7, 0-2) took a 57-52 lead on Moustapha Thiam’s dunk, capping an 11-0 Cincinnati run that flipped the Mountaineers’ 52-49 advantage. But WVU answered late, fueled by a pair of clutch 3-pointers from Honor Huff and Treysen Eaglestaff.
Huff scored a game-high 24 points and pulled down eight rebounds, including several key boards in the final minutes for the Mountaineers.
“He really got us off to a great start and he spoils you to the point where when he misses one you are like, ‘Dang, what are you doing? You are supposed to make everything you shoot,'” WVU head coach Ross Hodge said. “I think the coolest moment for him was getting eight rebounds from the littlest guy on the floor.”
After Huff’s 3-pointer with 2:13 remaining, Eaglestaff hit a turnaround 3 from the corner with 1:12 left.
“I heard 3-2-1, I’m like, ‘I got one second. I got throw it up,'” Eaglestaff said. “So I turned to my shoulder and threw it up.”
The shot gave the Mountaineers a 58-57 lead, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.
Following a timeout by the Bearcats, Huff made two free throws with 19 seconds left to extend the lead to 60-57. Eaglestaff then added two more free throws after being fouled on a rebound to give WVU a 62-57 cushion. Cincinnati’s Jizzle James hit a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining but missed a final potential game-winning shot as time expired.
“I can’t say it was a thing of beauty,” Hodge said of his first Big 12 victory. “But the one thing I will say, when they made that run and we were in the huddle, there was a look there that thought we could still win the game.”
The Mountaineers (10-5, 1-1) jumped out to an early 19-6 lead and shot 46 percent from the field, including 48 percent from 3-point range. The Bearcats struggled to find consistent offense, shooting 35 percent overall and 34 percent from behind the arc, though Cincinnati did convert 18 points off 15 WVU turnovers and held a 16-4 advantage in fastbreak points.
Chance Moore added 14 points off the bench for the Mountaineers, while Eaglestaff contributed 10. For the Bearcats, Jalen Celestine paved the way with 15 points on five 3-pointers, and Day Day Thomas had nine points and five assists.
Former WVU player Sincere Harris had four points while Kerr Kriisa missed the game with an injury.
Cincinnati came into the contest with the sixth-best adjusted defensive efficiency in the nation, according to KenPom, and Hodge called their halfcourt defense “elite.” Despite that, Huff and Eaglestaff combined for 15 of the Mountaineers’ 37 rebounds and orchestrated the decisive late run.
WVU welcomes No. 22 Kansas to the Hope Coliseum on Saturday at noon.
Photo Credit: Dale Sparks- All Pro Photography- WVU Athletics
