Column: Mountaineers’ triumphal moment was a long time coming

COMMENTARY

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The game stretched soooooo long, flowing through parts, cringing through others, but refusing to finish. Had this been the Oscars, the music would’ve played us off the court an hour too early.

Finally, after three grueling overtimes, the team with nothing to play for (West Virginia) beat the one that had much on the line (TCU). A season patently forgettable produced a memorable chapter as the Mountaineers produced a 104-96 victory that matched the longest game in program history.

Jermaine Haley, one of several endurance heroes Tuesday night, fought through leg cramps to play 52 minutes. He also fought through a referee’s brain cramp when his lay-up at the end of regulation should have counted as a goaltend.

“You could see my body wasn’t responding well,” said Haley, who during the final OT made an offensive putback while remaining flat-footed, afraid to jump for fear his calves might seize up. Working in Haley’s favor, the TCU defender (who played 48 minutes) didn’t attempt to jump either.

BOXSCORE: West Virginia 104, TCU 96

Chase Harler played 51 minutes — geez, I never imagined typing that sentence — while Jordan McCabe and Derek Culver each gave West Virginia profound performances across 50.

“Conditioning has never been an issue here,” McCabe said. “I think you’ve seen that from teams in the past.”

Speaking of teams from the past, this one briefly reminded Bob Huggins of yesteryear by showing resilience, stamina and some pluck. “What was great to me was they’re in the huddle saying, ‘We’re not going to lose.’ I haven’t heard that since JC left.”

McCabe scored 25 points, dished 11 assists and committed a relatively low four turnovers. Though Culver had eight giveaways, he made up for them with 22 points and 21 rebounds — a man’s game to be sure.

Culver didn’t merely get lucky on caroms that landed in his area code. He chased down missed shots in the opposite corner, pursued loose balls through logjams of bodies, generally thriving under a mentality he admits he never possessed in high school.

“Now, every time a ball goes up, it has DC’s name on it. It’s mine.”

From first-semester DNP to second-semester DC’s ball. Culver’s emergence sure looks like the latest in a line of Huggins’ tough-love projects.

“You’re talking about a 6-10, 260 guy who just separates people,” the coach said. “Because he’s so strong and he plays through contact so well, he gets rebounds when there are three or four people around him.”

Each team seemingly squandered three or four chances to win this game. TCU (18-10, 6-9) rallied from six down in the final 1:29 of regulation and had a chance to win until Alex Robinson dribbled the ball off Culver’s foot.

Bubble teams tend to play a lot of these coin-toss games, and the Frogs badly needed this one. But in double-overtime, a well-designed play with 5 seconds failed because J.D. Miller stepped out of bounds after taking a midcourt pass.

Ultimately, the Mountaineers (11-17, 3-12) got it done. For one sweet, fatiguing moment, last-place in the Big 12 didn’t define these guys. Neither did that 31-point beatdown in Fort Worth.

“I told them yesterday that we aren’t giving up,” Huggins said. “That’s not in my DNA, and for a lot of them, I don’t think it’s in their DNA. We need to make a run here at the end of the year, and then, we need to go to the tournament and win.”

Long shots? Sure, really long. But so was this game, and they didn’t quit on it.

Triple-OT games in West Virginia hoops history