WVU makes 17 3-pointers in Big East tournament win over Providence
NEW YORK – Seventh-seeded West Virginia University hit 17 three-pointers Wednesday night to fuel a 92-79 whipping of tenth-seeded Providence in the first round of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.
The Mountaineers’ shooting from behind the three-point arc was a Big East tournament record, shattering the old mark of 14 made by Seton Hall in 1995. WVU’s 92 points was the second highest points total ever in a Big East Tournament game.
“This was probably our best offensive performance of the year,” West Virginia coach John Beilein said. “When we shoot like we did tonight, we’re a tough out.”
Frank Young led the Mountaineer charge with 21 points, including five three-pointers on six attempts. Alex Ruoff also hit five three-pointers and scored 21 as well.
Beilein felt Young has been a leader on the team all year and showed it last night.
“He’s not the most-athletic player on our team but tonight he was our most-athletic player,” Beilein said. “Frank shoots it from so far out, he doesn’t even care where the three-point line is.”
The Mountaineers (22-8) are 79-16 under Beilein when leading at the half. They are also 46-14 under Beilein when hitting 10 or more 3-pointers in a game.
“We don’t say beforehand we’re coming in tonight and jacking up three’s,” Beilein said. “We take what the defense is giving us and tonight we were given a lot of open three’s.”
West Virginia was considered a “bubble” team coming into the tournament and is looking to make a run to solidify its chances of receiving an NCAA invitation, but Beilein will not comment on that just yet.
“I think the best idea is just try and keep winning,” Beilein said. “We just need to keep winning and not worry about any of NCAA Tournament talk.”
The teams battled back and forth in the first half but the Mountaineers closed out the last three minutes of the half with a 9-2 run to take a 40-32 lead into the locker room.
They found their shooting rhythm early in the second half and opened up a 15-point lead five minutes in.
The Friars (18-12) cut the lead to only 3 points midway through the second half, but West Virginia continued to pour in three-pointers and Providence never got any closer, much to the disappointment of head coach Tim Welsh.
“They’re a three-point shooting team and it’s deflating when the 3’s come at you at the pace they came at us today. Every time we got close, the threes put it out of reach,” Welsh said. “It’s tough to shoot 51 percent from the floor, out rebound a team and still lose, but that’s what happened tonight.”
Besides Young and Ruoff, Darris Nichols scored in double figures with 16, and Wellington Smith came off the bench when Young and Da’Sean Butler got into foul trouble and added 10 points.
“Wellington coming off the bench when we got into foul trouble was a key for us,” Beilein said. “Nichols knocked down a three and that changed the momentum.”
The Mountaineers will not have a lot of time to savor the win. They have to face second-seeded Louisville at 7 p.m. tonight. As the tournament’s second seed, the Cardinals had a bye Wednesday, making it an even tougher task for West Virginia.
“I pride myself on preparing for a team but this game will be hard to prepare for since we haven’t played them yet this year,” Beilein said. “I think the most-exciting night in this tournament is Thursday night when it gets down to eight teams and we’re honored to be one of those teams.”