— Story by Luke Wiggs
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Early success from distance led TCU to a 93-81 victory over West Virginia on Wednesday night at the WVU Coliseum in what marked the Mountaineers’ final home game of the season.
Against a 2-3 zone defense, TCU (20-10, 9-8) attempted its first nine shots from beyond the arc and hit five of them, which along with two Jameer Nelson Jr. free throws, allowed the Horned Frogs to lead 18-8 just over 6 minutes into the matchup.
“We got beat by Baylor because of the zone.” Horned Frogs’ head coach Jamie Dixon said. “So we had to work a lot on zone the last couple of days.”
West Virginia (9-21, 4-13) got a pair of RaeQuan Battle free throws early, but didn’t have a field goal until Jesse Edwards’ dunk at the 15:20 mark of the opening half.
Edwards then scored eight consecutive points for West Virginia en route to hitting his first six shots.
“We had no answer for Edwards.” Dixon said. “Obviously we were missing our big guy [Ernest Udeh Jr.], but Edwards was as good as he could be.”
WVU cut its deficit to seven with a couple of Quinn Slazinski free throws, before the Horned Frogs responded with an 11-2 run highlighted by Emanuel Miller’s three baskets. A pair of contested mid range jumpers on consecutive possessions by Noah Farrakhan brought WVU to within 30-18 with 8:34 left in the first.
Thirteen of the next 15 points were scored by TCU, capped off by a Chuck O’Bannon layup and triple on consecutive possessions that left the Horned Frogs with a 43-20 lead.
With 3:09 left in the half, Kerr Kriisa hit a three, one of only two WVU triples in the opening half. TCU, meanwhile, was 9 for 16 from deep through 20 minutes.
Edwards stuffed home a dunk in the final seconds on the half to give him 18 points, though the Mountaineers were still facing a 53-38 deficit.
“He was special tonight.” WVU interim head coach Josh Eilert said. “We tried to give him as many touches as possible.”
The teams traded buckets to start the second half. Battle slammed home a lob pass from Kriisa that was thrown from near midcourt. TCU continued to cause damage behind the arc and got a triple from Nelson along with one from Trevian Tennyson to take a 63-47 lead into the first media timeout.
Kriisa buried his second trey with 11:42 left, then stole the inbound pass to set up Battle, who was fouled. A TCU technical made it four free throws for Battle, who was obliged to hit all of them, and the Mountaineers trailed by 13 with 10 minutes to play.
Edwards scored seven straight points to bring West Virginia within 10 at the 2:38 mark, but the Mountaineers could never get over the hump as they again played from behind throughout. Edwards finished with a career high 36 points while also adding 13 rebounds.
It was the first time a Mountaineer had 36 points and 13 rebounds in a game since Rod Thorn in 1962. Edwards is one of five WVU players to accomplish the feat.
“Mixed feelings.” Edwards said. “Points wise, I had a great night, which was great for my last game here, but obviously it was a rough game for us together.”
TCU shot 56 percent overall and made 11-of-23 threes.
Miller led the way with 21 points, Nelson with 17 points and 6 assists.
“Needed win for us.” Dixon said. “We had lost twice in a row and WVU had beaten Texas and Kansas. We hadn’t been able to put it all together but tonight we did.”
It is Dixon’s first win in Morgantown coaching TCU.
Six players were honored pregame for West Virginia’s senior day —Edwards, Battle, Kriisa, Akok Akok, Pat Suemnick and Quinn Slazinski.
“It just happens so fast.” Eilert said, reflecting on time spent with the senior class. “I’ve learned a lot from them and them from me. At the end of the day, our record will say we’re a failure, but we continue to represent this state and these people as best we can.”
Kriisa and Edwards were greeted by former WVU head coach Bob Huggins and his wife June during on-court festivities.
“It was still one of the best years of my life, regardless of everything that happened.” Edwards said. “What’s so amazing is that all of these fans come out and fill the seats if we’re coming off a loss or a win.”