Bleed Gold And Blue

The #8 Mountaineers took on #20 Georgetown Monday night in Morgantown. Not only was this an important game for conference standings; it was also Senior Night. The three seniors, Da’Sean Butler, Wellington Smith, and Cam Payne played their last game in the Coliseum and came out with a W, 81-68. Top performers were: Da’Sean Butler (22 Pts, 6 Assists, 6 Reb), Devin Ebanks (15 Pts, 5 Reb), and Kevin Jones (14 Pts, 6 Reb).

WVU played excellent in the first half, leading by as many as 22, and entered halftime ahead by 17. In the second half, they came out on fire again and pulled away by 27 with 16:54 left in the game. Soon after, the infamous shooting slump that has plagued WVU game after game arrived again as the lead dwindled to 9. The Mountaineers, though, would not allow the Hoyas back in the game and made the critical free throws needed to control the game.

The game ended as emotionally as expected. Wellington Smith fouled out late in the second half and received a standing ovation, and Da’Sean Butler left the court in tears realizing he had just stepped off of the Coliseum court for the last time. Cam Payne, an invited walk-on from George Washington High, entered the game with :48 left following cheers of “Put Cam in!”. Though he was unable to score, he stated that just hearing the crowd cheer his name will be a memory to last a lifetime.

West Virginia concludes the regular season this weekend with a trip to The Pavilion to face Villanova on Saturday. The game will be televised nationally on CBS.

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