The statute of limitations ran out on little guys Thursday night.
This time, the little guy met his match.
This time, the big guy came up big–and the little guy ran out of magic.
West Virginia’s 5-foot-11-inch senior guard Jarrod West, whose 22-foot shot off the glass with 8/10ths of a second left Saturday upset Cincinnati and sent the Mountaineers to the Sweet 16, missed three long jumpers in the last 45 seconds Thursday at Arrowhead Pond.
Utah’s Utes (28-3) missed a whole lot more shots than that–going the last 8:50 without a field goal. But they escaped anyway, 65-62, because 6-11 center Michael Doleac came up big–when it counted.
Doleac, who had a game-high 25 points, was 6 for 11 from the floor, after a 6-for-6 start. He was 13 of 14 from the line, including his last six free throws in a row. When Doleac, who also grabbed 14 rebounds, swished a pair with 6.5 seconds left–and West’s three-pointer at the buzzer bounced away–Utah earned its second straight trip to the Elite Eight. Point guard Andre Miller added 14 points and eight assists for Utah.
West Virginia (24-9) was led by senior forwards Brent Solheim and Damian Owens with 16 points apiece. West finished with 11, going 4 of 13 from the floor.
“In our last two games,” said Utah coach Rick Majerus, “I’ve prefaced each timeout with the words, `Don’t be hesitant.’ We were, I don’t think scared, but apprehensive. You could see down the stretch that not many guys wanted the ball.”
Utah handled West Virginia’s press early, but eventually it took its toll. The Mountaineers forced 19 turnovers–the same number as Utah–but the Utes, after leading by as many as eight points in the second half, shot just 38 percent over the final 20 minutes.
“What was the problem?” said Doleac. “We just didn’t make any shots. I don’t think we tried to slow them down; I just think we lost our spacing and the attack we had early.”
To say the Utes slowed the Mountaineers down in the first half wouldn’t be accurate. Mainly, they just stayed in their rearview mirror for 10 minutes and then passed them rounding the turn. Led by Owens’ nine points and three steals, West Virginia’s speed racers kept it close by getting off 35 shots in the first half.
Utah enjoyed a 34-28 lead at the break, though, because it showed a bit more patience on the offensive end and forced 11 turnovers and because Doleac had 10 points, most of those coming in transition.
Doleac kept it up in the second half, scoring six of Utah’s first eight points after intermission, but the Utes couldn’t pull away, their lead seesawing between four and eight.
Utah led 53-48 on a three-pointer by Miller when West Virginia started its run.
“It really was kind of sloppy game,” said Utah guard Drew Hansen. “This just proves we can win without being crisp.”
“They had quick hands,” said Miller. “They got a lot of steals. We didn’t attack their press the way we should.”
