Wednesday round-up: Mountaineers hold off Thundering Herd, Scarlet Knights get 1st conference win
Mountaineers edge Thundering Herd 66-64
Da’Sean Butler’s jumper in the lane with just under 6 seconds to play propelled West Virginia past Marshall 66-64 on Wednesday night. Butler led the Mountaineers with 18 points and leading scorer Alex Ruoff turned in a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Darris Nichols finished with 10 points.
Mark Dorris and Darryl Merthie each had 20 points for Marshall (10-7), the only Thundering Herd players to score in double figures.
The Mountaineers (15-4) allowed Marshall to hang around the final seven minutes of the game by shooting just 5-of-14 from the free throw line. The Thundering Herd cut deficits of 12 and 5 down the stretch. Merthie was fouled on a 3-point attempt by West Virginia forward Joe Flowers with 31 seconds left; Merthie sunk all 3 free throws to tie the game at 64. West Virginia returns to conference play Saturday night at 7 p.m. against No.9 Georgetown.
Scarlet Knights get 1st Big East win with upset over Wildcats
The guard tandem of Mike Coburn and Anthony Farmer dropped in 22 points apiece to lead Rutgers to an upset victory over No.18 Villanova 80-68 on Wednesday night. Rutgers entered the game 0-6 in conference play in the ‘07-’08 campaign and hadn’t beat a ranked team in more than two years, their last win coming on Jan.18th, 2006 against then-No.22 Louisville 65-56.
Freshman Malcolm Grant led Villanova (13-4, 3-3) with 23 points, including a stretch of 17 straight late in the second half, as he single-handedly tried to keep the Wildcats in the game. Scottie Reynolds was the only other Wildcat in double figures with 16, but struggled terribly from the field, shooting 5-of-19 and missing on 7-of-8 3-point attempts.
Once again, Villanova was handcuffed by a poor start, as Rutgers (9-11, 1-6) jumped all over the Wildcats 16-2 behind a frenzied home crowd at the RAC (Rutgers Athletic Center). Villanova turned the ball over a season-high 19 times and their 36.7 percent shooting didn’t help their cause either. Rutgers, meanwhile, shot an even 50 percent from the field. The Scarlet Knights entered the night dead last in shooting percentage in the Big East, but you couldn’t tell on this night. They opened the game draining eight of their first 10 shots and shot 64 percent in the first half. Villanova began the second half down 40-32, and preceded to go scoreless from the field for almost 12 minutes.
No.18 Villanova will look to rebound Saturday afternoon back at The Pavilion against visiting Notre Dame, while Rutgers will aim for their 2nd straight conference win against No.17 Pittsburgh.
Tags: Big East Basketball, Marshall Thundering Herd, NCAA Men's basketball, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Villanova Wildcats, West Virginia Mountaineers