Men’s basketball completes season sweep of West Virginia, 85-78

By Steve Habel/Senior Editor

AUSTIN, Texas — When the University of Texas men’s basketball team needed a lift Tuesday against 10th-ranked West Virginia, it was freshman guard Eric Davis, Jr. — an unlikely source given his recent contributions — who answered the call.

Davis canned all four of his three-point shots in a six-minute stretch of the first half on the way to scoring 15 points — all before halftime —and the Longhorns survived a final parry from the Mountaineers to post a crucial 85-78 win.

Texas point guard Isaiah Taylor [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]poured in 23 points and dished out seven assists as the Longhorns (17-9 overall, 8-5 in Big 12 play) defeated their league rival for the second time this season. Texas showed no ill effects from its two road losses to ranked conference teams last week that dropped them out of the top 25.

Davis had scored a total of seven points in his previous four games, but was on the mark as the Longhorns, who are now 13-1 at home, surged past West Virginia on his back-to-back three-pointers beginning at the 6:39 mark of the first half.

“I just wanted to stay confident, and the team and the coaching staff have helped keep me that way,” Davis said. “Shooting is just like target practice, and they want me to keep shooting. I’m always the most confident of the freshmen — I stay confident. I felt really good after the first (three-pointer) went in.”

Texas coach Shaka Smart said Davis was really down when the Longhorns got back from Iowa State early Sunday morning after he had a few sub-par games in a row.

“Eric got back in the gym and went to work,” Smart said. “He found some extra energy and it made a difference. The little run — the big run, actually — that Eric had in the first half with his three-pointers really changed our team’s whole approach and the game. That won us the game.”

West Virginia never got closer than the nine points in the second half until the final 1:02 when reserve guard Tarik Phillip nailed a three-pointer to bring WVU (20-6 overall, 9-4 in Big 12 games) to within 75-69. Texas was able to cement the win by hitting its free throws down the stretch.

The Mountaineers trailed by as many as 15 points for most of the second half, thanks to a horrid seven-minute stretch in which they missed eight of their 10 attempts from the floor.

WVU head  coach Bob Huggins said injuries that kept guards Jaysean Paige and Daxter Miles Jr. out of the game made things too difficult to overcome.

“We got tired because we’re shorthanded, and we expend too much energy with the way we play,” Huggins said. “But give Texas credit. They made their shots.”

The Longhorns also got 11 points from guard Javan Felix added 11 points, while freshman reserve guard/forward Tevin Mack added 10 points.

West Virginia was led by Phillip’s 19 points. Forward Devin Williams added 19 points and a game-high 12 rebounds and forward Jonathan Holton scored 10 points for the Mountaineers. West Virginia out-rebounded Texas, 40-22.

UT’s prowess from long distance propelled it to a 45-36 lead at halftime. The Longhorns were 7-of-12 from three-point range in the first half.

The Mountaineers’ poise and ability to withstand Texas’ full-court press were the differences in the game’s early moments, as West Virginia forged a 12-4 lead at the 17:45 mark.  The Longhorns fought back, finally tying the game at 24 on a three-pointer by Davis with 6:39 to play in the half.

Two more Davis three-pointers were sandwiched around a basket from beyond the arc by forward Connor Lammert, as Texas took a 33-32 lead at the 3:14 mark.

Both teams were on the mark from the floor in the first half, as the Mountaineers outshot Texas 62.5-61.5 percent.

“We went to a zone defense, which obviously didn’t work,” Huggins added. “It’s hard to change things at this time of the season. How hard can we go in practice when we’re playing two games a week against some of the best teams in the nation? It’s tough, but the reality is we are not the team we were (when we were) playing our best.”

Texas returns to the floor Saturday when it hosts No. 25 Baylor in the Longhorns’ fourth straight game against a ranked team

“The difference in this year’s team and last year’s is that we have our swagger in every game,” Taylor said. “We know we have to keep pushing. We’ve had some tough losses, but the coaches do a great job of keeping us positive and Coach Smart doesn’t let us get down on ourselves.”

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