clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

West Virginia Vs. Marshall: Thundering Herd Upset Mountaineers In Bizarre Capital Classic

  • ...and the second half is underway with 5 points in 30 seconds from the Herd, and Huggins has already called a timeout.  Mountaineers, meet crisis mode.  You live here the rest of the night.  Down 19, there's a pretty big task ahead of the 'Eers right now.  It doesn't matter who the competition is.  It's time to go, and now.
  • After calling everything in the first half, Kilicli gets knocked down with no call. The Mountaineers haven't scored in ten minutes of play.  Nuts.  The margin is twenty two.  TWENTY TWO!?!
  • Bending Bending good! Casey Mitchell finally hits a little runner, and the Mountaineers have scored.  Margins still above twenty though.  And we can't have that.
  • Wow.  Marshall keeps scoring, and its just brutal.  In a lot of ways, this game needs to be envisioned as a bunch of pent up aggression left over from Marshall's big choke in the football game.  I mean, these kids are playing like they're out for Mountaineer blood.  Right now, they seem to be getting it.  Last year's Final Four team could come back from a twenty plus deficit against a Conference USA team.  I'm not convinced this year's can.
  • Just when things are looking up, following threes from Casey Mitchell and John Flowers, just when momentum was to be seized, Mitchell jumps a passing lane and goes all the way to the rack and misses the dunk.  It's a perfect example of the entire game in an instant.
  • A few more sparks from the Mountaineers, but still no fire.  They're playing a matchup zone that seems mildly effective, but they're still plagued by the constant fouls.  No flow means no opportunity to put ten points or so on the board real quick.
  • The 'Eers have made up some ground by going to the line.  A twenty plus deficit  has cut the lead to twelve.  The game is slowly becoming manageable.  That's good for WVU, it almost got away from them there for a minute.  The entire team has to play smart down the stretch.
  • A double technical on Cam Thoroughman and DeAndre Kane.  This is a wrestling match disguised as a basketball game.
  • Casey Mitchell is fouled shooting a three from behind some guy's head.  These camera angles cannot be worse. He hits all three, and the deficit is seven.  They've halved their halftime deficit.  For the first time in over an hour, I think the 'Eers may win this one.
  • Cam fouls out.  That Tech hurts now.  This foul, was invisible, and called by a ref way off the ball.  This officiating is ridiculous.
  • At the final television timeout, West Virginia still trails by a dozen.  This doesn't look good at all. After some back and forth action and some brutal missed free throws, Flowers buries a three.  Still down eight though.
  • I don't understand where Kilicli has been.  He's been out of the game for a long stretch.  The Mountaineers have been making headway, but they need points.  The Turk can help with that.
  • Kevin Jones buries a big three! Five point game.  The Herd looks like they're playing tense, there's an opportunity there.
  • The fouling continues, after a Herd basket, Mitchell cuts it back to five....but charges. No basket. This game's almost done.  West Virginia has slipped into fouling mode, but the way this game has been called, it's hard to tell anythings really changed.
  • Shockingly, Truck Bryant is fouled shooting threes.... twice.  Nothing in this game is normal.  He goes to the line and cuts the Herd lead to three.  This game is beyond bizarre.  Unfortunately the necessary fouler on the next possession was Flowers, who has now fouled out.
  • Three three-pointers missed on the the Mountaineers last possession and this one is over.

This game tonight was a brutal example of why the Mountaineers' inability to run offense is its' achillies heel.  Withou an eight an a half minute drought tonight, the 'Eers win this one going away.  Instead, it's another wild and wacky one in Charleston.

Final Score 75-71. Marshall fans are rushing the court.  I'm going to bed angry.

Photographs by dizfunk used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.