Butler’s Last Second Jumper Saves Mountaineers Perfect Record
Da’sean Butler is the hero again in Morgantown in the Mountaineers first Big East home game by nailing a game winning 20-foot jumper with 2.3 seconds left to lift the Mountaineers to a 63-62 victory over Marquette (9-4, 0-1). Joe Mazzulla sealed the win by intercepting the ball on the other side of the court off of a long desperation throw.
West Virginia (11-0, 2-0 Big East) trailed by 5 points with 52 seconds left to play but thanks to a late Kevin Jones steal, a Devin Ebanks dunk, and a couple of missed free throws by the Golden Eagles, the Mountaineers were able to come out on top. Marquette had the lead with 1:02 after a made free throw to put the score at 62-57, but they did not score after that.
Devin Ebanks led the way for the Mountaineers scoring 19 points while pulling down 8 rebounds along with 4 assists. Ebanks was followed by Kevin Jones who scored 18 points and Da’sean Butler who had 17 points with 7 rebounds in West Virginia lowest scoring game of the season.
Bob Huggins admitted that his players were still tired from the Seton Hall game after winning that 90-84 in overtime. This has been the best start from a West Virginia basketball team since the 1957-1958 season where they started off on a 14-game winning streak, lead by Jerry West. The Mountaineers will face #4 Purdue (12-0) in their next game, traveling to West Lafayette, IN in a battle between to unbeaten and potential final four teams.