West Virginia reaches OT once again, shoots down No. 24 Arizona

Field Level Media|published: Fri 29th November, 17:52 2024

NCAA Basketball: Battle 4 Atlantis-West Virginia vs Arizona

Nov 29, 2024; Paradise Island, Bahamas, BHS; Arizona Wildcats guard Caleb Love (1) drives to the basket as West Virginia Mountaineers guard Sencire Harris (10) defends during the first half at Imperial Arena at the Atlantis resort. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Tucker DeVries scored 26 points and Toby Okani added 20 to lead West Virginia to an 83-76 win over No. 24 Arizona in overtime in the Battle 4 Atlantis third-place game Friday in Paradise Island, Bahamas.

The Mountaineers (5-2) also got 13 points and 10 rebounds from Amani Hansberry. Javon Small scored 14 and dished eight assists.

Arizona (3-4) was led by 24 points from Caleb Love. Trey Townsend added 19 on 7-of-12 shooting.

The Wildcats trailed by 10 with less than 10 minutes to go but stormed back. Love hit a deep 3-pointer to tie the game at 66 apiece with just 14 seconds to play.

DeVries took the ball up the court on the next possession. He missed a turnaround jumper and the game went into overtime.

In the extra period, the Mountaineers snatched back the momentum. They went 4-for-4 from the floor, including a 3-pointer from DeVries and both a jumper and a 3-pointer from Okani.

From there, West Virginia protected their lead with free throws and key stops. They went on to win what was their third consecutive overtime game.

It was a back-and-forth battle in the first half with neither team pulling ahead for long.

DeVries got going at the end of the half, scoring the team's last 11 points of the half with three deep 3-pointers. The Mountaineers went into the half up 39-37.

DeVries led with 17 while Okani had 10 for West Virginia. Love had 10 for the Wildcats. The teams both shot exactly 13-for-30 from the floor in the half.

The Mountaineers took their late-half momentum into the second, going on an 11-1 run to take a 57-47 edge with 11 minutes to play.

However, the Wildcats stuck around and took advantage of a cold stretch from West Virginia. The Mountaineers went dry for a span of 5:25, shooting 1-for-11 from the floor. Arizona pulled within two with three minutes to play.

The cold stretch finally ended with an Okani 3-pointer to give West Virginia a five-point lead with two minutes to go, but Townsend scored with 47 seconds to go before Love's tying 3.

Arizona is expected to fall out of the AP Top 25 poll for the first time in 61 weeks, which would end what is the fourth-longest streak in the country. They were ranked as highly as No. 9 earlier this season.

--Field Level Media