MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia didn’t have a timeout at the end of overtime, so its two freshmen improvised the final 1.8 seconds to perfection.
After TCU took the lead on Trey Ziegler’s jumper, Daxter Miles connected with Jevon Carter on an 80-foot inbounds pass that led to the game-winning free throws and the Mountaineers’ 86-85 escape.
“The play the two freshman make, it’s unbelievable,” said coach Bob Huggins. “You make a shot like (TCU’s) and everybody wants to relax. It’s unbelievable to have that much smarts—for Dax to grab it and J.C. to be smart enough to take off running down the floor.”
Miles doesn’t normally take the ball out of bounds after an opponent’s basket, but desperation—and a sense that his roommate Carter was leaking out—made for a quick decision.
“I read his eyes and he read me,” Miles said, “I played football all my life so I know how to throw the ball. I knew I had to put something on (the pass), so I led him a little bit and put it right over his ear.”
In classic Huggins style, he tempered his praise for the rookies with a zinger.
“They do some things that make you think they are wise beyond their years,” he said. “And then they do some things where you think they’re back in eighth grade.”
See the coach’s entire postgame news conference following Saturday’s thriller.