Freshman Carter fuels comeback win over Boston College

Reserve freshman Jevon Carter scored 13 of his 15 points to spur a second-half comeback and West Virginia survived the final 3:46 without fouled-out playmaker Juwan Staten to beat Boston College 70-66 in Friday’s semifinal at the Puerto Rico Tip-off.

West Virginia (4-0), which dug out of a 32-21 deficit at the half, advanced to Sunday night’s title game in San Juan against No. 17 UConn (3-0)—another yesteryear rival from the Big East era.

West Virginia freshman Jevon Carter scored 15 points off the bench to lift West Virginia over Boston College 70-66 in Puerto Rico.

“We’re 4-0 and we wanted to leave this tournament 5-0,” said Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins. “We wanted to come down here and play a ranked team, and we wanted to come out of this tournament ranked. So we’ve got a chance to do that.”

Devin Williams finished with 15 points, including a crucial three-point play in the final minute, while freshman guard Daxter Miles contributed 10 points and a team-high six rebounds.

Staten also scored 15 but was on the bench during the tense final 10 seconds when his backup, Puerto Rico native Gary Browne, lost the ball off an inbounds pass. As Boston College (2-2) scrambled to set up the tying 3, Browne re-stole the ball, got fouled and made a free throw to seal it.

“I think Juwan Staten is learning he can’t make dumb fouls,” Huggins said. “It hasn’t stopped him yet, but hopefully it will.”

BOXSCORE: West Virginia 70, Boston College 66

Advancing was a chore because Boston College got a 23-point game from point guard Olivier Hanlan and frustrated WVU into 26-percent first-half shooting.

“We got ourselves in a heck of a hole by 11 to that team,” Huggins said. “When you play a team like theirs with good guards who control the game and you’re screwing around not taking care of the ball and not finishing, you’re going to get in trouble and that’s exactly what we did.”

Carter, who shot 4-of-5 overall and added 5-of-7 foul shooting and made three steals, launched the rally with a 3-pointer. By the time the 18-6 run culminated in a Miles’ 3-pointer and Carter’s layup off a steal, West Virginia led 50-48 at the 9:27 mark.

Staten’s jumper built the cushion to 60-55, but the All-American candidate fouled out by being whistled for a charge and a reach-in during a 20-second span.

Browne promptly grabbed a steal and bounced a behind-the-back pass to Carter for a layup. Browne also drew a charge on Hanlan before Miles made a driving lay-in to put WVU ahead 65-58 with 2:36 left.

Still, Hanlan gave the Eagles a chance at their second straight upset when he made an aggressive transition layup while being fouled by Williams with 49 seconds left. The only part missing was the and-1 free throw Hanlan missed, preserving West Virginia’s 65-64 lead.

While the Mountaineers forced 24 turnovers, they committed 10 themselves during a spotty first half that featured no baskets in the final 6:51.

“We put ourselves in a bad spot and we didn’t have a whole lot of bounce to start the game,” Huggins said.

Patrick Heckmann scored 14 and Aaron Brown 10 for the Eagles, who aren’t projected to contend for an NCAA tournament bid, though they helped their case by upsetting New Mexico on Thursday.

“We controlled the first half of the game, but things unraveled in the second half,” said Boston College coach Jim Christian. “We had guys in foul trouble in the second half and we had a tough time guarding the ball, so things just went south on us.”





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