W. Virginia in Sweet 16 for 2nd straight year
No. 6 Mountaineers end Northwestern State's tourney with 67-54 win
Paul Sancya / APWest Virginia's Kevin Pittsnogle shoots over Northwestern State's Alfonse Dyer. Pittsnogle shot the Mountaineers into the Sweet 16 for the second straight season with a 67-54 win on Sunday.
updated 8:14 p.m. ET March 19, 2006
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Jerry West’s teams have company in the West Virginia record book.
Kevin Pittsnogle scored 14 points to lead the sixth-seeded Mountaineers to a 67-54 victory over 14th-seeded Northwestern State in the second round of the NCAA tournament Sunday.
West Virginia has won two games in consecutive NCAAs for the first time since the famed West, whose silhouette graces the NBA’s logo, led it to the title game in 1959 and a regional semifinal the next year.
“I just hope we end up being one of the great and most popular teams in West Virginia history like they were,” said Mike Gansey, who had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
The Mountaineers led by as many as 25 in the second half, but had to hold off a late rally as the Demons pulled to 57-49 with 4:14 left.
“You knew the second half was going to be a root canal,” Mountaineers coach John Beilein said. “They went after us with everything they had with their waves, and we got worn down, but we were still standing at the end.”
West Virginia (22-10) will play Texas on Thursday in an Atlanta Regional semifinal. The Longhorns beat West Virginia 76-75 on Nov. 21 at a tournament in Kansas City, Mo.
Clifton Lee and Keenan Jones each scored 11 for the Demons (26-8), the lowest-seeded team to win in the first round.
The Southland Conference champions had a chance to become the third 14th-seeded team to reach the round of 16 and first since Chattanooga in 1997. The pride of Natchitoches, La., also could’ve been the first from their conference to win two NCAA tournament games since 1985, when Karl Malone helped Louisiana Tech pull off the feat.
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The Demons weren’t able to complete a remarkable turnaround as they did Friday, but got West Virginia’s attention.
Northwestern State overcame a 17-point deficit in the final 8½ minutes against third-seeded Iowa and won on Jermaine Wallace’s fadeaway 3-pointer with a split second left for its seventh double-digit comeback this season.
“The mood is a little different today — you go from the top of the world to the bottom of the trash barrel,” Demons coach Mike McConathy said. “The turnovers were pretty much the game.”
West Virginia put Northwestern State, which had 24 turnovers, in a hole it couldn’t get out of.
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The Mountaineers went on a 16-3 run early in the game to take an 11-point lead thanks to a mix of their 1-3-1 zone and man-to-man defense, crisp passing and jumpers West would’ve been proud of.
West Virginia led 41-19 at halftime — scoring 19 points off 17 turnovers — shooting 54 percent.
“We played a brilliant first half,” Beilein said.
The Mountaineers seemed to stunt any comeback chances for the Demons with steady play early in the second half, taking a 48-23 lead.
Then, Northwestern State started outhustling a team that played as if the game was over.
“We don’t play very well with big leads — we don’t stay as aggressive,” Gansey said.
The Demons outscored West Virginia 26-9 to pull within eight, but couldn’t get closer.
Northwestern State set a school record for wins, including victories over Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-10 schools.
“We fell short, but no one expected us to be here,” forward Jermaine Spencer said. “No one, no loss, can take away what we did.
“We’ve put Northwestern State on the map.”
The Mountaineers held onto their lead despite going nearly 13 minutes without a field goal, helped by free throws. West Virginia was 24-of-33 at the line while the Demons were 6-of-11.
“They were going to put us on the line and make us score that way,” Beilein said.
Frank Young and J.D. Collins had 10 points apiece for the Mountaineers. Pittsnogle led them in scoring, but was just 3-of-14 from the field.
“I had a lot of open looks, I just didn’t knock them down,” he said.
West Virginia beat Southern Illinois 64-46 and ended up with a comfortable margin against the Demons, starting the tournament in stark contrast to its previous run. All four of the Mountaineers’ tourney games last year were close, including an overtime loss to Louisville that kept them from the Final Four.
The Mountaineers found their groove in suburban Motown after slumping into the NCAA tournament with five losses in seven games, including a setback against Pittsburgh in their first Big East tournament game.
“A lot of teams that have won their conference tournaments have lost in the first two rounds,” Gansey said. “It was unfortunate to lose, but it got us hungry again.”
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