WVU Basketball Has 2nd Half Meltdown in Big 12 Tournament Loss to Colorado

WVU basketball had a terrible second half in a disappointing loss to Colorado in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday afternoon.

Eighth-seeded West Virginia (19-13, 10-10 Big 12) was outplayed in nearly every facet after halftime by 16th-seeded Colorado (14-19, 3-17) in a 67-60 loss.

The Mountaineers got off to a great start offensively, making five of their first eight shots to go up 13-7 early on. WVU’s defense forced seven straight Colorado misses as a Javon Small three-pointer grew the lead to a baker’s dozen, 25-12.

Small had 13 points through the first 12 minutes, nearly matching Colorado’s offense by himself, as the Buffaloes trailed 27-14 with eight minutes left to play.

Following a media timeout, however, Colorado flipped the script. Suddenly, it was the Mountaineers who couldn’t made a shot as the Buffaloes went on a 7-0 run. 

CU cut WVU’s lead to six, 29-23, as it closed the half on a 9-2 run. WVU missed 10 of its final 11 shots over the last eight minutes of the first half.

WVU’s offensive struggles continued into the second half, where the Mountaineers took three minutes to score on a shot by Jonathan Powell. Between the end of the first half and start of the second, the Mountaineers had missed 13 of their last 14 shots.

Colorado got within three points, 33-30, before West Virginia made a change. To combat its cold shooting, WVU started going inside to center Eduardo Andre, who scored six straight points for the Mountaineers as their lead slowly got back up to nine points.

Colorado, likewise, started pounding the ball inside to forward Elijah Malone. WVU had no answer for Malone’s size as the Buffaloes went on a long scoring run. RJ Smith tied the game at 46-46 with a layup and then gave the Buffaloes their first lead since the first minute of the game on a three-pointer.

All told, Colorado went on a 15-point run over a five-minute span and led by six, 52-46, with under five minutes to play.

WVU got within four points down the stretch but never managed to re-tie the game as Colorado hit its free throws late to hold on for the upset win.

Small, an All-Big 12 First-Team selection, had just one shot attempt for the majority of the second half before getting a handful of separation attempts up at the very end. WVU turned the ball over 11 times after halftime and allowed Colorado to shoot 60.9% from the floor.

Malone led Colorado with 14 points, 12 of which came in the second half. Smith was next with 13, while Andrej Jakimovski had 11.

Small paced WVU with 23 points, but only Toby Okani joined him in double figures with 11. Amani Hansberry was held to just two points and Joseph Yesufu scored only four.

Colorado advances to the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals to take on top-seeded Houston tomorrow at 3 p.m.

WVU basketball now turns its attention to Selection Sunday, where the Mountaineers expect to hear their named call for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.