Schifino gives WVU necessary spark to defeat Marshall
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – Drew Schifino changed shoes, got rid of the headband and gave West Virginia the necessary spark. Schifino scored 11 of West Virginia’s final 17 points to give the Mountaineers a 65-61 victory Wednesday night over Marshall at the Charleston Civic Center.
“We were calling his number down the stretch, no doubt about it,” said West Virginia coach John Beilein. “He’s our best creator. He is so acrobatic with what he can do.”
The Mountaineers (10-6) broke a three-game losing streak and beat their cross-state rival for the fifth time in six years.
Schifino made just 7-of-21 shots but finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
“When he missed two or three, that was a signal to me to keep going to him,” Beilein said. “Because chances are, they were going to even out a bit.”
It took awhile. Schifino had just four points at halftime. He changed shoes in the lockerroom.
Then, during a timeout late in the second half and the score tied at 48-48, Schifino took off his headband and threw it to the end of the bench in frustration.
“I wasn’t shooting well, and little things just tick you off,” Schifino said.
He scored his team’s next four points and later made back-to-back baskets to put West Virginia ahead for good, 59-55, with 1:28 left.
Beilein isn’t worried about Schifino’s habits.
“I know he does change those things quite a bit,” Beilein said. “I don’t pay a lot of attention. I know he is superstitious about what he wears.”
What it came down to was West Virginia’s leading scorer was lethal down the stretch, and Marshall’s wasn’t.
“It was tough at the end to guard him because they were running plays to get him open,” said Marshall’s Ronald Blackshear.
Blackshear finished with 19 points, but he was just 3-of-11 from 3-point range and had three airballs over the final two minutes.
“I don’t feel good right now,” Blackshear said. “I know I didn’t play well and didn’t do what it takes to help my team win.”
Kevin Pittsnogle added 14 points for West Virginia. Marshall’s David Anderson had 12 points and Ardo Armpalu and Marvin Black added 10 apiece.
Black made a pair of baskets and three free throws to bring Marshall (8-6) from six points down to tie the game at 48-48 with 8:35 remaining before Schifino took over.
Monty Wright’s basket with 41 seconds left pulled Marshall within 59-57, but the Mountaineers made 6-of-8 free throws in the final 32 seconds to preserve the victory.
Marshall shot just 39 percent from the floor in the series’ lowest scoring game since it returned to Charleston in 1992.
West Virginia holds a 23-8 lead in the series. The last five games have been decided by six points or less, with two of them going into overtime.
Marshall, which has lost three straight, returns to action Saturday at home against Buffalo. West Virginia is home against Rutgers on Sunday.