West Virginia forward Esa Ahmad (23) dunks during the second half against Marshall on Sunday in San Diego. AP photo
By: Mitch Vingle, Staff Writer | Posted: Mar. 19, 2018 | Source: WV Gazette-Mail
SAN DIEGO — Jarrod West Sr. was in the Viejas Arena here on the campus of San Diego State University for Sunday night’s special matchup between Mountain State teams West Virginia and Marshall.
It was almost 20 years to the day he helped WVU stun then-Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins and the Bearcats with a 25-foot bank shot, sending the Mountaineers into the Sweet 16.
On Sunday, however, with West’s son Jarrod Jr. in Marshall’s lineup, there was no buzzer-beater. There was, in fact, very little drama whatsoever.
That’s because the Mountaineers (26-10) thoroughly dominated the Thundering Herd in the paint and everywhere else in a 94-71 rout, sending West Virginia to its third Sweet 16 appearance in the last four years. The fifth-seeded Mountaineers will now travel to Boston for a Friday matchup with No. 1 seed Villanova. The Big 12 will be sending one quarter of the teams to the Sweet 16, with WVU, Kansas, Kansas State and Texas Tech all going.
Sunday’s late affair was somewhat surprising not because West Virginia won — the Mountaineers were, after all, a 12.5-point favorite — but because of the decisiveness. After MU stunned No. 4 seed Wichita State here Friday, many expected a tight, emotion-filled battle. It turned out, however, to be much like the prior game before the controversial ending to the series. Back in 2015, Jevon Carter had 15 points to lead the Mountaineers to an 86-68 victory. MU standout and Charleston native Jon Elmore was then held to 14.
This time it was much of the same — and more for WVU. Carter led the Mountaineers in scoring with 28 on 10-of-18 shooting, while Elmore was held down for most of the game and finished with 15. West Virginia outrebounded Marshall 40-24.
“My teammates did an unbelievable job of getting me open,” Carter said. “I came off a lot of screens. I just played within the game. I just let the game come to me. I just let my defense turn into offense.”
“You’ve got to give them credit,” said MU coach Dan D’Antoni of WVU. “They’re tough.”
In sum, it was a runaway.
With 5:58 remaining, WVU was up by 31. And perhaps two second-half plays symbolized this one.
The first was when WVU was coming out of a timeout at the 13:46 mark. Junior Esa Ahmad threw an alley-oop pass to sophomore Sagaba Konate for a thunderous dunk.
The second was with 8:13 remaining. It was when red-hot Carter, deep in the left corner, took a pass, put up a trey and was fouled by Ot Elmore. The shot went in. And Carter gave a death stare to the crowd. He completed the 4-point play to give West Virginia a 30-point 77-47 lead.
The only bad note for the Mountaineers was Wes Harris’ clash with MU’s Jannson Williams at 8:21 of the first half. Harris was held out the rest of the game with concussion-like symptoms and Williams was reportedly sent to the hospital.
Otherwise, the night was almost completely owned by WVU.
“We did it for the state,” said Mountaineer forward Lamont West, who finished with 18. “We just wanted to go out there and play hard. We didn’t want to go home with an ‘L.’ We just did what we do. We played hard and came out with a ‘W.’”
As has been the case, it seems, in every WVU game of late, the Mountaineers had a cold hand shooting early. Marshall, meanwhile, hit three of its first four attempts – all treys – and moved out to an 8-point, 16-8 lead on a Darius George 3-pointer at 13:56.
The icebreaker for West Virginia, though, was Lamont West’s three right after that of George.
The Mountaineers were then off and running, both figuratively and literally.
The press was working to the tune of 11 first-half Marshall turnovers, which turned into 15 points. Also, Sagaba Konate’s presence at the back end of the press appeared to bother Marshall’s shooters. The Thundering Herd converted just 8 of 26 (30.8 percent) of their shots in the span and failed to score a field goal in the last 4:14.
West Virginia, meanwhile, got 3-pointers from West, James “Beetle” Bolden, Daxter Miles and Carter to fuel a 23-2 run (which, on the back end, was 19-0), completed on an Ahmad tip-in. MU’s C.J. Burks hit a pair of free throws at 4:39 to snap the run.
West Virginia, though, wasn’t done. The Mountaineers stretched their lead to 42-25 points at the end of the half. They took 38 shots in the half compared to the Herd’s 26. They outrebounded Marshall by a whopping 27-11 and had 18 points in the paint. Carter had 11 points to lead seven WVU players in first half scoring. The Herd’s leader, Jon Elmore, was 1 of 5 shooting and had but three points. MU’s lowest first-half point production before West Virginia was 26 versus Old Dominion.
West Virginia outscored MU in the second half by 52-46.
“Just happy to be able to keep playing,” Carter said. “This is March. We did what we came here to do. But we don’t want to just go to the Sweet 16, we want to win it all. We’re going to watch a lot of film and get ready for the next one.”
All-time, West Virginia now leads the series with Marshall 34-11.
Mitch Vingle can be reached at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter@MitchVingle.
