WVU Basketball Rides Hot Start to Late-Night Win Over TCU

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — WVU basketball rode a hot start to a 73-55 win over visiting TCU in a late-night affair in the Coliseum Tuesday night.

An early 18-point run gave the Mountaineers (17-11, 8-9 Big 12) the cushion they needed to cruise to the 18-point victory.

WVU also got off to a good start in the first meeting this season, when the Horned Frogs (15-13, 8-9) were able to complete a double-digit comeback for the victory. There was no such comeback this time around. 

TCU scored the first five points of the game before West Virginia embarked on an 18-0 run that lasted seven minutes. The Horned Frogs missed 10 straight shots from the field during that time. By the time the Horned Frogs found their footing again, WVU had put together a 23-2 run that lasted nearly 10 minutes and put them ahead 23-7.

WVU’s lead broke 20 points when a 6-0 run later in the half had the Mountaineers up 42-20 with two minutes left before halftime. The Mountaineers shot 14-18 from the floor over a 10-minute stretch in the first half.

TCU scored the final seven points of the half to cut the lead to 15, 42-27, but it wasn’t enough to salvage what had been a poor showing by the Horned Frogs.

Javon Small and Sencire Harris both scored 11 first-half points for the Mountaineers. Small hit a trio of three-pointers in the first half, his first time in five games with more than two three-pointers.

TCU cut the lead to 12 on a three-point from Trazarien White to open the second half, but baskets from Amani Hansberry and Small quickly built the advantage back up to 18, 50-32.

WVU’s lead got back up to 20, 57-37, on another three-pointer from Small with 12:46 to play.

TCU’s final push was a 10-point run that cut WVU’s lead down to single digits, 62-53. The Mountaineers missed five straight shots in that stretch but responded with baskets from Small and Joseph Yesufu to go back up by 14.

TCU did not make a field goal for the final 5:33 of the game as WVU secured the victory.

Small paced the Mountaineers with 23 points to go along with 10 assists, but he also had a lion’s share of the team’s 13 turnovers with six. Harris finished with a career-high 13 points and Yesufu had 14.

White was the only TCU player to reach double figures with 11 points. Vasean Allette and Noah Reynolds, who combined for 42 points in the first game against TCU, scored just 10 points Tuesday.

Darian DeVries’ WVU basketball team now heads west for a two-game trip against BYU and Utah before closing out the regular season at home against UCF next Saturday.