PITTSBURGH — Best Virginia head coach Chase Harler figured his team’s best chance to slow Zoo Crew in Monday night’s second-round matchup in TBT was to force them into as many contested jump shots as possible.
As it turned out, that wasn’t the case, with Pitt’s alumni team putting on an offensive clinic for much of the outing that led to better than 53 percent field goal shooting with 12 three-pointers in a 91-79 victory at Petersen Events Center.
“Our game plan going in was to live with contested jump shots, and of course they made contested jump shots, so it looked like our defense was way worse than what it was,” Harler said. “The biggest thing was the first game was a little bit easy in regard to we kind of got whatever we wanted to whenever we wanted to. Things weren’t as easy going into this game and throughout the game and we kind of got away from ourselves. It’s an up and down tournament and whoever gets hot is usually going to win.”
The result sends Zoo Crew to Wednesday night’s Pittsburgh Regional final against Happy Valley Hoopers, which defeated Stars of Storrs earlier Monday, 94-83.
Zoo Crew led 27-25 through one quarter and 49-46 at halftime after a tightly-contested first two frames. Neither team led by more than five points throughout the first half, and despite making 17-of-31 shots through two periods, Best Virginia faced a five-point deficit.
Wesley Harris and Esa Ahmad keyed Best Virginia’s offense in the opening frame with nine and eight points, respectively, before guard Taz Sherman did so in the second by making 3-of-4 shots to score nine points.
Yet Zoo Crew was in front thanks in large part to its offensive efficiency, which included a pair of triples in the opening quarter from Ryan Luther, while guard Nike Sibande led all players at the break with 14 points. Zoo Crew made 9-of-14 shots including 4-of-7 threes in the first quarter, and went to the break having made 7 of 16 from long range.
“We knew they were going to pick and pop a lot. Our game plan going in was to switch that to prevent that,” Harler said. “We switched the guards and they had the ability to get the big on them and get in the paint. We had to help and gave up some drive and kicks but the game plan was to live with contested shots and unfortunately they made a lot of contested shots. Our effort was there.“
Both teams went cold from the perimeter in the third and combined to make only 1-of-13 threes, but forward Mike Young ignited Zoo Crew’s offense with a seven-point frame on 3-of-4 shooting.
Meanwhile, Best Virginia made 7-of-10 two-point field-goal attempts in the third, but misfired on all six of its triples. Post player Devin Williams led the team with six third-quarter points and BV trailed 68-63 entering the fourth.
Sibande opened the scoring in the final frame with a triple and teammate Lamar Patterson added one of his own in the corner 40 seconds later to up Zoo Crew’s advantage to 74-65.
Marcus Keene counted with a three for Best Virginia, which got to within four moments later on two Esa Ahmad free throws.
Nelly Cummings countered with a three for a seven-point lead and it was the start of a 7-0 run that helped Zoo Crew enter the Elam Ending leading 83-75.
Young opened the scoring during the Elam Ending portion with a conventional three-point play and he ended the contest less than 2 minutes later with a fallaway jumper that left his team at the desired target score.
FINAL: Zoo Crew 91, Best Virginia 79
Mike Young’s jumper secures the win for Zoo Crew, which moves on to face Happy Valley Hoopers in the Pittsburgh Regional final Wednesday night. pic.twitter.com/VRxVJwo68K
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) July 23, 2024
Ahmad made 5-of-7 shots and led Best Virginia with 17 points. Harris and Tarik Phillip added 13 apiece and Keene scored 11 in defeat.
Young, who scored 24 points in his team’s opening-round win, led all players with 23. Through TBT games, he has made 20-of-31 field-goal attempts.
Sibande added 21 points and Cummings scored 17 for a team that finished with 30 field goals and nine turnovers.
“They shot the ball pretty well, but things got tough and we kind of got away from ourselves,” Harler said. “I take blame for that as the coach. I have to call a timeout and get them to kind of regroup. This is all a learning experience for me, too. I’m not running away from the loss. I’ll take the L and if I come back and coach next year, I know what I need to work on. I appreciate these guys coming out and the offseason is so short for these guys, so for them to give up two or three weeks of their time means a lot.”