MORGANTOWN -
It turns out that in West Virginia's time of desperation, in
the face of defeat, a backup freshman point guard may be just the answer the
Mountaineers need.
As time wound down in a three-point game, Gary Browne got
the offense in motion to run the play that would determine whether or not the
game went on.
He wasn't the first option on the play and he likely wasn't
the second or third. But when his other options looked somewhat less than
promising, he took it upon himself to get the job done.
"When I was in Puerto Rico, I always used to take that shot
and I was confident," says Browne. "But this time, I've got K.J., I've got
Deniz and I've got Truck first option, so if there isn't anything open, I've
got to step up like I said and make the shot. This time, it was my time to step
up again and I did a great job."
His coaches and teammates would agree with that assessment,
but it wasn't like this was any real surprise.
Browne had a similar opportunity earlier this season in Las
Vegas when he handled the ball facing a three-point deficit. Both times, he
tried to draw a foul before ultimately firing away.
Both times, he found the bottom of the net.
"You have one chance to show your teammates that they can
have confidence in you, so I have two shots to make it and I did," says the
freshman.
On the other end, Cincinnati's Dion Dixon missed a layup
that could have put the score back in the visitors' favor but Keaton Miles
gathered the rebound and got the ball to Truck Bryant.
Time to run out the clock, right?
Not so fast. Bryant lost control of the ball and as the
fight on the floor unfolded, Kevin Jones stood by trying to call a timeout that
WVU didn't have. Had it been recognized
by the official, it would have been a technical foul and the Bearcats would be
at the line to essentially seal the game.
"Truck came over and told me we don't have any timeouts and
Coach said that to me and I just got wrapped up in the game and that was the
first thing that came to mind when I saw Truck on the floor with the ball," says
Jones.
So just seconds after a true freshman did his job better
than it had even been drawn up, the senior leader nearly put the Mountaineers
in position to give it all away.
Instead, they got to overtime and a three-point win.
"So happy, man," Jones said after the game. "I wouldn't have
been able to sleep if that would have happened and I'm just so fortunate that
it didn't happen for my teammates and
I'm just glad we came out with a win."
Normally Jones would be the one the team puts its confidence
in to make the right decision and execute the key play to lead West Virginia to
a victory, but on Saturday, Browne relished in that role.
"Gary's taken big shots for us before, so it's nothing new
and we were there definitely to rebound and pick up any miss just in case he
missed it," says Jones. "He has a lot of confidence in himself and we've seen
him make big shots, so I definitely had confidence when he put it up."
Browne certainly has room left to grow and he will be the
first to tell you so. He averages the fifth-most minutes per game of anyone on
the team, so even though he doesn't have a career start to his name, it's
obvious just how much is expected of him.
On a weekend when his high school team, Arlington Country
Day, was in town for the Mountaineer Showcase, Browne showed up and showed off.
And West Virginia needed every bit of it.
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