MOUNTAINEERS RALLY PAST BUCKEYES
West Virginia freshman guard Miles Mcbride remains an avid Ohio State football fan. The Cincinnati native doesn’t share the same love for its basketball team.
Mcbride scored a seasonhigh 21 points, including six in the final 2:22, as No. 22 West Virginia rallied for a 67-59 victory over No. 2 Ohio State on Sunday in Cleveland.
The Mountaineers (11-1), who trailed by nine late in the first half, went ahead for good at 55-54 on a push-shot by Derek Culver with 3:31 left. Mcbride followed with two free throws and an 18-foot jumper that he punctuated with a playful shrug.
“I knew if we got this win, our fan base was going to go crazy,” he said. “Both teams have prideful fan bases, but I wanted our fans to have a little edge.
“I had family and friends in the crowd, and it felt like a big tournament game. This whole day was great. There’s nothing like it.”
Kaleb Wesson had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Buckeyes (11-2), who were held to a season low in points and committed season highs of 22 turnovers and 25 fouls. They made 5 of 24 shots in the second half while being outscored 36-22.
West Virginia coach Bob
Huggins is 3-0 against Ohio State since taking over the program in 2007 and recorded his 19th win over a top 10 team with the Mountaineers.
“I wasn’t very happy with them at halftime because I didn’t think we played as hard as they did and we got in foul trouble,” Huggins said. “Then they came out in the second half and played as well as we’ve played defensively all year.”
The Buckeyes were 3-0 against ranked teams but couldn’t contain Mcbride or senior guard Chase Harler down the stretch. Harler, who finished with 10 points, delivered the dagger with a steal and score that gave West Virginia its largest lead at 65-57.
Freshman forward Oscar Tshiebwe — the Mountaineers’ leading scorer — had no points and four fouls in eight minutes. Culver collected seven points and 10 rebounds.
Duane Washington Jr. scored 12 points and Luther Muhammad and C.J. Walker had 10 apiece for Ohio State. Kyle Young grabbed a gamehigh 11 rebounds while battling the stomach flu.
“We did some things that we have to do better, but give them credit for being a really good team,” Buckeyes coach Chris Holtmann said. “It was back and forth, and came down to whoever could make enough plays there late.”
The Cleveland Classic drew a near-capacity crowd of 16,781 at the home of the NBA’S Cavaliers. It was the first college game in the arena since its two-year renovation was completed in September.
Marshall beat Duquesne 83-61 in the second half of the doubleheader.
“I thought our fans were unbelievable, unbelievable,” Huggins said. “I don’t know exactly what the split was, but it sounded 50/50. Our fans really came out for us in Ohio State’s backyard.”
No. 5 Kansas 72, Stanford 56: Isaiah Moss made three straight 3-pointers during a decisive second-half stretch and finished with 17 points, helping visiting Kansas (10-2) overcome an inconsistent performance on both ends to beat Stanford (11-2).
No. 6 Oregon 98, Alabama State 59: Chris Duarte scored a season-high 31 points and host Oregon (11-2) pounded Alabama State (1-12) in its final tuneup before Pac-12 play.
No. 8 Auburn 86, Lipscomb 59: Danjel Purifoy had 17 points and nine rebounds and host Auburn improved to 12-0 by beating Lipscomb (5-8).
No. 11 Michigan 86, Umass Lowell 60: Jon Teske had 25 points, and Michigan (10-3) closed its nonconference schedule with a rout of Umass Lowell (6-9).
No. 13 Maryland 84, Bryant 70: Anthony Cowan Jr. scored 19 points and host Maryland ended a two-game slide with a win over Bryant (8-5).
No. 14 Michigan State 95, Western Michigan 62: Foster Loyer scored a career-high 16 points as Michigan State (10-3) shook off a slow start without All-american Cassius Winston to beat Western Michigan (7-6).
No. 16 Virginia 65, Navy 56: Kihei Clark scored five points during a 12-0 secondhalf run and host Virginia (10-2) overcame a sloppy effort against Navy (6-5).
No. 20 Penn State 90, Cornell 59: Mike Watkins scored 16 of his 19 points in the first half as Penn State (11-2) rolled past Cornell (1-10).
No. 23 Texas Tech 73, Cal State Bakersfield 58: Kyler Edwards scored 18 of his 20 points after halftime and Texas Tech pulled away from Bakersfield (6-9) to win its 54th consecutive home game against nonconference teams.
No. 25 Iowa 93, Kennesaw State 51: Luka Garza scored 23 as Iowa (10-3) closed its nonconference schedule with a win over Kennesaw State (112).
West Virginia 67, Ohio State 59