Marquette’s 2nd Half 3-Point Shooting Too Much for West Virginia

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Marquette defeated West Virginia 82-71, as the Golden Eagles stormed all the way back from a 12-point deficit in the second half in the semifinals of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic on Friday.

Marquette’s 8-of-13 (62 percent) shooting from three in the second half was really what had West Virginia defeated. WVU’s body language got worse and worse as MU continued to drain wide-open three’s.

Both West Virginia (3-1) and Marquette (5-0) did not take any time to adjust to each other, as they traded baskets throughout the early stages of the first half.

Marquette’s Darryl Morsell gave West Virginia problems, as he either scored or assisted the first 12 Marquette points, helping the Golden Eagles to an early 7-0 run.

West Virginia went on an 17-2 run of their own, behind Jalen Bridges and Taz Sherman. Fifth-year senior Dimon Carrigan started out the run with a dunk and then a steal to swing the momentum of the game.

Sherman and Sean McNeil helped run a West Virginia offense that scored efficiently. The Mountaineers shot 58 percent from the field in the first half. Nine different Mountaineers scored in the first half.

WVU went into the break with a 47-35 lead.

It appeared that the Mountaineers would just be able to hang around with the Golden Eagles and get a stress-free win. Nope.

With a 54-42 WVU lead, Marquette proceeded to go on a 13-0 run. MU’s Tyler Kolek hit 2-three’s during the run to help give the Golden Eagles the lead back. Kolek finished with 18 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three.

A media timeout was what cooled down Marquette’s momentum, as a Sherman lay-up ended the big run.

The Golden Eagles continue to make three’s, which was too much for West Viriginia to come back from. WVU would double the ball handler and Marquette moved the ball around well, always finding the wide-open man.

Morsell was able to close out the game for the Golden Eagles, hitting a pair of free-throws.

The Mountaineers shot 42 percent from the field, 37 percent from three and 67 percent from the free-throw line.

Sherman led the Mountaineers with 21 points, on 7-of-18 shooting from the field. Other notable scorers were McNeil with 12 and Bridges with 11.

West Virginia will have Saturday off, as they prepare to take on Clemson on Sunday night for the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic third-place game. The game is set to tip-off at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

(Top Photo: Julia Mellett – WVSN)