By Bill Nestor
Sports Editor
It is a bittersweet time in Morgantown for hoops fans. One West Virginia basketball team is going dancing and the other is not.
The Big 12 Tournament was a golden opportunity for both the women’s and men’s Mountaineer teams to make an impression in hopes of climbing the ladder. Ironically, Mark Kellogg took that ladder for a ride when the dust settled and used it to cut down the nets.
It has been almost a decade since West Virginia won its first Big 12 Tournament title (2017) and it is Kellogg’s first. The Mountaineers claimed three victories en route to the championships with the first and last being surprisingly easy.
As the number two seed, WVU opened with a 13-point win over Arizona State. The second game took place the next day against the sixth seeded Colorado Buffaloes. The expectation was a close contest since the Mountaineers only beat the Buffs by six (61 to 35) in their last lock-up on Feb. 4.
Colorado not only kept it tight, they had possession of the ball with two seconds left with a chance to win the game. Jordan Harrison came up with a steal and West Virginia would advance to the title game to face the top seeded TCU Horned Frogs.
The Mountaineers took it to the top team, outsourcing them in every one of the first three quarters. The biggest advantage came after the halftime break, outshooting the Frogs 17 to nine. Kellogg utilized stifling defense to force eight turnovers that led to 15 points in the affair. Playing in their third game in as many days had an adverse effect on West Virginia. After growing their lead to 14 (48 to 34) with just under eight minutes left in regulation, TCU slowly worked its way back into contention.
The Horned Frogs cut the deficit to six points with 38 seconds remaining. Harrison would make four free throws down the stretch to seal the deal for the Mountaineers 62 to 53. She would also be named the tournament’s most valuable player for her efforts.
On the men’s side, Russ Hodge and his team needed a strong showing in the tournament to have an outside shot at making the big dance. The Mountaineers received a break obtaining a first round bye and would battle Brigham Young University in second round play. Hodge had to be feeling confident about the match-up as his squad knocked off this team 79 to 71 on Feb 28.
The biggest difference is the venue in which the games were played. The last tilt took place in Morgantown while this one was not. This WVU squad has had its fair share of struggles away from “Touchdown City” and BYU had revenge on its mind. After a close first half, the game got ugly early in the second half and a 68 to 48 loss all but shut the door on the dance for Hodge.
Mountaineer Nation is looking for a deep run from Kellogg and a quick rebuild for Hodge. March does indeed bring madness to the hardwood!
That will do it for now. Until next week . . . take care and God bless!
