Treysen Eaglestaff hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:12 remaining as he was trapped with the shot clock running down to lead West Virginia to a 62-60 win over Cincinnati in a Big 12 Conference game on Tuesday in Morgantown, W. Va.
Honor Huff scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Mountaineers (10-5, 1-1 Big 12). Chance Moore contributed 14 points and Eaglestaff added 10 points.
Jalen Celestine led Cincinnati (8-7, 0-2) with 15 points as he hit 5 of 9 three-point attempts. Day Day Thomas added nine points.
The Mountaineers outscored the Bearcats 10-3 in the last 2:13 and survived a last second turnover that gave Jizzle James an open shot from just inside half-court that missed.
Eaglestaff’s heroics were followed by a missed three from Cincinnati’s Baba Miller. West Virginia won the scramble for the loose ball and Huff and Eaglestaff each hit a pair of free throws down the stretch to extend the lead to 62-57 with 11 seconds left.
James knocked down a trey with three ticks on the clock, but could not complete what would have been an epic ending.
West Virginia took a 31-28 halftime lead as Huff racked up 16 of the Mountaineers’ points. He connected on his first four three-point attempts.
In the first half, The Mountaineers shot 50% from the field (11 of 22) and 54.5% from three-point range (6 of 11). A Huff jumper capped a 9-0 run and gave West Virginia a 19-6 advantage with 11:23 remaining.
Conversely, Cincinnati opened the game 0 for 8 from three. Thomas finally canned a shot from beyond the arc at the 8:44 mark of the first half. Celestine followed up with a pair of threes and Cincinnati trailed 25-22 with 6:44 to play.
The Bearcats took their first lead at 34-31 when Thomas opened the second half with a pair of threes. A Moore coast-to-coast layup gave West Virginia a 45-42 lead. Moments later, Keyshaun Tillory nailed a three to tie the game at 45.
West Virginia grabbed a 52-46 lead, but Cincinnati went on a 11-0 run highlighted by Celestine who hit two threes, a James’ trey and Miller’s alley-oop pass that led to a Moustapha Thiam two-hand slam for a 57-52 lead with 4:46 remaining.
After the horrid start, the Bearcats converted 12 of 27 treys and finished at 34.3% (12 of 35) for the game. They were only slightly better from the field overall, hitting 22 of 62 (35.5%).
West Virginia was more efficient, knocking down 22 of 48 shots (45.8%) overall and 11 of 23 (47.8%) from behind the arc.
–Field Level Media
