Nov. 21—MORGANTOWN — Ricardo Wright didn’t bother taking a shot over the first 20 minutes, but the senior guard was absolute money in the second half Monday.
Right along with him, the SMU guard tandem of Zhuric Phelphs and Chuck Harris got going, too, and SMU ended up running right past West Virginia 70-58 in the first round of the Fort Myers (Fla.) Tip-Off inside the Suncoast Credit Union Arena.
Wright, who entered the game just 1 of 10 on the season from 3-point range, made the first four he attempted in the second half.
BOX SCORE Each one of them helped the Mustangs (4-1) either erase a 36-25 halftime deficit or pull away.
“That second half, I worried with the game plan I envisioned them having with their deep rotation, their athleticism and the way they get up and down the floor, ” WVU head coach Josh Eilert said on his radio postgame show. “How would we manage that late in the game ? I thought we had a pretty good first half. We really rebounded it well. They took a lot of uncontested shots in the second half, and they started to fall for them. They wore us down.”
Wright finished with 12 points and Harris and Phelps—the Mustangs’ leading scorers—got in the flow to add a combined 29 points.
SMU advances to face Wisconsin in the title game.
Meanwhile, the Mountaineers (2-2) will now take on No. 24 Virginia at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the consolation game.
The Cavaliers (4-1) fell to Wisconsin 65-41 in a game that got out of hand quickly in the second half. WVU is 10-9 all-time against Virginia with the last meeting coming in 2017.
Virginia starting guard Isaac McKneely is a sophomore from Poca. He had nine points in 33 minutes against the Badgers and is averaging 10.3 points per game and shooting 45 % from the floor this season.
WVU used a weird first half to take early control, but tired legs may have played a part in SMU shooting 60 % (18 of 30) in the second half.
WVU’s normal eight-man rotation was cut to seven before the game, as backup point guard Jeremiah Bembry was…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/smu-runs-past-wvu-second-121800587.html
Author : The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
Publish date : 2023-11-21 12:18:00
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