Stephen F. Austin would battle back, though, through a combination of tenacious defense on the perimeter and sloppy offensive execution from the Mountaineers.
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And yet, here’s some irony: One of the best games and most exciting outcomes was a result of a favored team – a No. 6 seed – winning. The Lumberjacks carved up the Mountaineers by dribbling out of double teams, moving away from the ball and flinging passes a second before West Virginia could deflect or steal them. Austin’s Thomas Walkup responds to questions during a news conference before a second-round men’s college basketball game against Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament, Saturday, March 19, 2016, in NY.
(11) fight for a rebound with West Virginia’s Devin Williams (41) Demetrious Floyd (1) and Jaysean Paige (5) during the second half of a first-round men’s colle…
Williams, fresh off a 31-point game in the Big 12 championship, was expected to dominate smaller SFA, whose rotation featured no one taller than 6-foot-8 and only two players above 6-5.
Stephen F. Austin forced West Virginia into 22(!!!) turnovers and more often than not turned those into points on the other end of the floor.
“It’s what we do”, Underwood told The Washington Post after Friday night’s victory.
“I think that people realize we’re the real deal”, Walkup said. In 35 minutes against West Virginia’s press, he had zero turnovers. Before that, a 67-64 overtime win against Butler in the second round that was also one of the best games of the 2015 tournament. The betting odds for the game have the Mountaineers favored by 8 points to pick up the win while the total is sitting around 145.5 points. The issue with WVU is that their style will likely land them right back in a first round exit next season if they can’t press without the ability to recover.
“All I know is West Virginia had 22 turnovers, and we’ve been hitting the concession stand the last two weeks”, Brey said with a smile. The Lumberjacks had absolutely no fear in their eye and took every punch West Virginia had to throw and raced past the Mountaineers to win 70-56, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
“I think when you’re behind, you tense up a bit and when you have the lead, you play a little loose and a little more free”, Martin said.
Stephen F. Austin: The Lumberjacks beat VCU in the round of 64 in 2014 for the schools’ first NCAA Tournament victory…. Toss in a star performer like Walkup, and we shouldn’t be surprised to see the Lumberjacks in the second weekend. “Just tried to get a good shot”, Robinson said, “and I just ran into my own teammate”.
The Mountaineers were called for 15 fouls and committed 12 turnovers in the first half alone, stats that would go on to sum up how the game would eventually be lost by West Virginia. The last time a WVU opponent attempted as many free throws was 1993.
“That’s what we do”, Underwood said to the TV world as he left the court. The Mountaineers fell for it all, and he scored a game-high 33 points.
Some things to watch when Stephen F. Austin and Notre Dame play for a spot in the Sweet 16 in Philadelphia.
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WVU turned the ball over on six straight possessions in the first half, which led to a drought over 10 minutes long spanning the two halves.
