MORGANTOWN -
Many of you probably turned off the television and decided
West Virginia already lost to Iowa State when the Mountaineers trailed by 18
points with 9:04 remaining in the game. If you did, you missed the best part of
this game.
As it did at Texas one week earlier, WVU rallied and made it
a fantastic finish. West Virginia started the game 0-12 from behind the arc,
but turned that number around and went 9-12 from three-point range the rest of
the way to tie it up with 11 seconds remaining.
Iowa State got an easy layup from Georges Niang with 2.5
seconds left to win it. However, WVU tried to get the ball up the floor. Eron
Harris was knocked down at halfcourt. There was no whistle blown and the game
ended.
"That was every bit as much of a foul as the one they called
on us in the Kansas State game," Huggins said on the MSN postgame radio show.
"I think that is more than fair to say."
Huggins was referring to the foul called on WVU in the final
seconds of the game four days earlier that allowed Kansas State to get a lead
and win the game.
WVU fought hard to overcome an 18-point deficit just to lose
it in the final seconds of the game.
"I'm proud of our guys," Huggins stated.
Freshman Guard Terry Henderson has been a starter of late
for the Mountaineers. He remained in Morgantown and did not make the trip with
a lower back injury. His status for Saturday's game at Purdue remains unknown.
Couple Henderson's absence with an ankle injury to Gary
Browne in the first half and Huggins needed to rely on his bench. Browne did
not return in the game and his status for Saturday's game is also unknown.
Huggins played a total of 11 players against Iowa State.
Throughout most of the comeback, Huggins had a smaller lineup on the floor
consisting of Jabarie Hinds, Matt Humphrey, Juwan Staten, Eron Harris and a
rotation of bigs.
"We keep trusting guys and we keep playing guys and we can't
play them," Huggins said. "The truth of the matter is the team was built to
play in the Big East where you got big physical people and this is not a big
physical league. Everybody is playing smaller, quicker guys. We're going to
have to go small and take our chances because playing with those big guys has
not worked."
West Virginia lost its last two games by a combined
total of three points. WVU fell to 8-8 overall and 1-3 in the Big 12. West
Virginia returns to action Saturday at Purdue followed by a home game against
TCU next Wednesday.
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