WVU falls in final home game of the season
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MORGANTOWN -- It was only fitting in a year that defied both description or belief that the final home game played by West Virginia's basketball team should provide the unexpected from start to finish.
About the only thing predictable was the Mountaineers would lose as they did, 93-81, to Texas Christian, a loss that goes down in the record books as it ties the school record of 21 losses in a season set in 2018-2019, a year when the final loss came to of all opponents Coastal Carolina in the CBI.
Truth was, even with that, losing this one on Senior Night took on an aura of the unexpected because TCU came into the Coliseum with an 0-11 record here.
There was really nothing about this evening that made much sense, starting even before the opening tipoff.
On Senior Night the senior players walk down the carpet, normally with their parents, but with Kerr Kriisa being from Estonia and Jesse Edwards from the Netherlands, they and the other players who had been recruited by Bob Huggins asked for him to be there for them and the wish was granted.
With no fanfare, no announcement, he and wife June greeted first Kriisa and then Edwards, along with the other players, offering up hugs and smiles that told the world the WVU players still carried more respect for Huggins than one might expect as his pressured departure set in motion all the insanity that would follow.
"The guys who were recruited by Huggs are still very close to him, as are the guys who played for him," center Jesse Edwards explained. "It was nice to have him out there with us tonight, to have it come full cycle and have him be there for us. That was important for us."
Oddly, despite that, it wasn't really a spirited, emotional walk down the carpet or much reaction from a crowd that was announced at more than 9,000 but they must have been counting arms and legs rather than bodies to reach that figure.
If the game didn't belong to West Virginia -- who has now given up 270 points in its last three games, all losses -- it did belong to Edwards, who would make a crazy night even crazier as he etched his name alongside some of the greatest players in Mountaineer history.
The Syracuse transfer made 15 of 19 shots from the floor and finished with 36 points and 13 rebounds. The 36 points were the most scored by a Mountaineer since Da'Sean Butler scored 43 against Villanova on Feb. 13, 2009.
"Defensively, we had no answer at all for him," TCU Coach Jamie Dixon said. "He was about as good as you can possibly be."
Butler, of course, was on the bench watching Edwards' performance, serving his first season as WVU assistant.
And when you consider Edwards' 36 points and 13 rebounds together as an entry, in Mountaineer history only four players have had games with that many in each category. You can probably name them … Jerry West, Mark Workman, Rod Thorn and Hot Rod Hundley.
"You hear those names but you don't expect to be one of them," Edwards said. "It's an honor to be on that list. I'm not the biggest stat guy."
But you could not ignore his stats. For example, it took him only 19 shots to accomplish the feat while Hundley took a school record 48 shots and scored 54 points with 18 rebounds.
There was another stat that you couldn't ignore either. Still bothered by a broken wrist, Edwards drew 12 fouls but made only 6 of 18 free throws.
"I don't want to put too much on my wrist. It's not going to be an excuse forever, but it's obviously bothering me," Edwards said. "It's something you feel every day, every practice. It's a matter of getting the touch back. It was definitely not my best shooting night from the line."
Because of that, he's become a target of more hackers than any computer user ever has to worry about.
There is, of course, one more game in Cincinnati and the Big 12 Tournament ahead before this year ends, but it has been as crazy as was this evening at the Coliseum.
"My one year in Morgantown has been the best year of my life but It's been one of the craziest years I've had," Edwards admitted. "One of these things that happened normally happens once every 10 years and we've had them 10 times in one season.
"That's obviously not great, but I've learned so much. What is even more amazing is that all these fans have come out and filled the seats at this stadium. Whether we lost a big game before or lost a big game before, they are there. To have that kind of pulls you through a season like this."
But even this single game was nothing as you would have laid it out. TCU came in with the reputation of living off its fast break, not taking many 3-point shots and not being exceptionally good at it.
Not tonight. They hit 9 of 16 points in the first half to open a big lead and WVU never could get the lead.
After falling behind by 23 points, the closest WVU could come was within 10 points, but then gave up six in a row as TCU put it away.