The Mountaineers went into South Florida needing a win, and got one, 50-44.
More surprisingly, they won the game at the free throw line, something WVU has struggled with all season. Truck Bryant had a perfect 12-12 day at the line including a series of game icing free throws down the stretch. Truck finished with 16 points. Bryant turned it on in the second half, giving the Mountaineers the lead on a circus shot with just under seven minutes left in the game. From that point on, the Mountaineers would never trail, despite letting the Bulls tie the game twice, including on a big three-pointer from Toarlyn Fitzpatrick with three minutes remaining.
WVU dug itself out of that hole, and any other problem it faced, by using tenacious defense to shut down the Bulls in the second half. The Mountaineers would force ten second half turnovers, causing the South Florida offense to stall out time and time again. Freshmen guards Jabarie Hinds and Gary Browne paced the 'Eers by stealing the ball in the front court on repeated possessions to keep WVU in front for good. Browne would take a charge in the lane with less than a minute left to seal the game for the Mountaineers and forcing South Florida into repeatedly fouling.
While quiet in the second half, Kevin Jones put in his usual impressive days work, finishing with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
The Mountaineers finish the regular season 19-12 overall and 9-9 in the Big East Conference. The will be either the No. 8 or No. 9 seed in the Big East tournament, depending on the outcome of this evening's Seton Hall-DePaul game.