Late surge carries Texas on the road
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Javan Felix scored the final nine points for Texas and led the Longhorns to a 56-49 victory over No. 6 West Virginia on Wednesday night.
Felix, who finished with 17 points, shot 4 of 9 from the field, including 2 of 3 three-pointers, and was 7 of 8 from the free-throw line against a Mountaineers team (15-3, 4-2 Big 12) that had not lost at WVU Coliseum this season.
Felix converted a rebound basket, made four free throws and added a three-pointer during the key stretch for the Longhorns (12-6, 4-2).
Texas’ team bus failed to arrive at the arena until just 45 minutes before tip-off because of bad weather that included light snow and ice.
Devin Williams scored 11 points and 11 rebounds for West Virginia, while teammate Jonathan Holton added 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Texas fought back from a brief deficit to take a 2825 halftime lead over West Virginia. The Mountaineers charged ahead 34-29 with 15:24 left.
The Longhorns were ahead 42-37 with 9:18 remaining when West Virginia battled back. After Elijah Macon missed both free throws, Jaysean Paige got the ball and made a layup, and Holton followed with a score. Daxter Miles Jr.’s three-pointer tied it at 42-42.
Texas called a timeout with 6:17 left, then outscored West Virginia 14-7 the rest of the way.
The Longhorns turned the ball over just eight times. The Mountaineers came into the game averaging 25 points off turnovers, but they scored only seven points off turnovers against the Longhorns.
West Virginia was 19 of 60 from the field (31.7 percent) and 3 of 21 from three-point range (14.3 percent). Though they outrebounded Texas 4933, the Mountaineers shot 8 of 23 (34.8 percent) from the free-throw line.
The Longhorns are 3-1 against top 25 teams this season. They lost to then-No. 25 Texas A&M 84-73, but have defeated then-No. 3 North Carolina 84-82 and now the Mountaineers.
In other games involving top 25 men’s teams Wednesday, Brice Johnson had 27 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 2 North Carolina beat Wake Forest 83-68 for its 10th consecutive victory. The Tar Heels (17-2, 6-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) had little trouble extending their best start to conference play since 2000-2001. ... Al Freeman scored all 11 of his points after regulation, Lester Medford hit the go-ahead free throws to start the second overtime and No. 13 Baylor stretched its home winning streak to 15 games with a 79-72 victory over Kansas State. Medford made two foul shots in the opening minute of the second overtime to put Baylor (15-3, 5-1 Big 12) ahead to stay before Freeman added a driving layup. ... Sheldon McClellan scored 19 points, Ja’Quan Newton had 12 and No. 15 Miami rebounded from consecutive losses with a 67-53 victory over Boston College. It was the 11th consecutive victory for the Hurricanes (14-3, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) against Boston College. ... Quentin Snider scored 20 points, Damion Lee added 14 and No. 17 Louisville had no problem with Florida State in an 84-65 victory. Louisville (15-3, 4-1 ACC) was rarely challenged in winning its second consecutive ACC game, shooting 48 percent while outrebounding Florida State 44-36. ... Ryan Arcidiacono hit a go-ahead layup with 32.4 seconds to play and foul-plagued Daniel Ochefu made a crucial block to preserve the lead as No. 4 Villanova held off another Seton Hall upset bid with a 72-71 victory. The victory was the ninth in a row overall and the 22nd consecutive in the Big East Conference for Villanova (17-2, 7-0).
In games involving SEC men’s teams, Yante Maten had 21 points and 12 rebounds as Georgia (10-6, 3-3 SEC) held off Missouri (8-10, 1-4) for a 60-57 victory. Maten played well on both ends of the court for the Bulldogs, shooting 10 of 21 from the field and blocking 6 shots, which tied a career high. ... Wade Baldwin IV scored a career-high 25 points and Matthew Fisher-Davis added 18 off the bench as Vanderbilt utilized a prohibitive edge from three-point range in an 8874 victory over Tennessee. Vanderbilt (11-7, 3-3 SEC) outscored Tennessee (9-9, 2-4) 39-12 on three-pointers, including a 30-0 margin in the first half.