West Virginia Claims Win Over UConn in Big 12-Big East Battle
West Virginia claimed a win over UConn, while Kansas State lost by a point to Marquette, in the latest games in the Big 12-Big East Battle on Wednesday night.
With those results, the Big East is now up 4-3 in the annual set of games between the two conferences.
In a tight contest down the stretch, West Virginia’s Taz Sherman scored a layup and tied the game at 51-all with 3:38 left. From there, the Mountaineers outscored the Huskies 5-2 down the stretch to secure the win.
Sherman led West Virginia (8-1) with 23 points, while Sean McNeil — who hit some key free throws down the stretch — added 16 points. It was the Mountaineers’ fifth straight victory as they head into their contest with Kent State on Sunday in Morgantown.
Kansas State fell to Marquette, 64-63, as Marquette led by a point at halftime, 31-30, and the contest was tied, 50-50, midway through the second half. Marquette built a seven-point lead with 5:42 remaining before the Wildcats (5-2) chipped away the rest of the game.
Mark Smith cut the lead to 61-60 with 48 seconds left on a layup. After Marquette’s Kam Jones hit a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 64-60 with 32 seconds left, Mike McGuirl answered with a 3-pointer of his own with 19 seconds left.
K-State had a chance to take the win but Ismael Massoud missed a lay-up with four seconds left.
Smith led the Wildcats with 17 points, while Massoud scored 16 points and Markquis Nowell added 11 points. Nowell had a double-double with 11 assists.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
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Big 12-Big East Battle Schedule, Results
Wednesday, December 1
Providence 72, Texas Tech 68
Friday, December 3
Kansas 95, St. John’s 75
Saturday, December 4
Iowa State 64, Creighton 58
Sunday, December 5
Xavier 77, Oklahoma State 71
Tuesday, December 7
Butler 66, Oklahoma 62 (OT)
Wednesday, December 8
West Virginia 56, UConn 53
Marquette 64, Kansas State 63 (Big East Up, 4-3)
Thursday, December 9
Texas at Seton Hall, 5:30 p.m., FS1
Sunday, December 12
Villanova at Baylor, 2 p.m., ABC
Friday, December 18
TCU at Georgetown, 1 p.m., FS1
All times central
