Sunday, December 30
Morgantown, W.Va.
2 p.m.
Lehigh University
7-4
68
at
78
West Virginia
8-4
1
2
F
Lehigh
34
34
68
West Virginia
38
40
78
Mountain Hawks’ upset bid falls a little short at West Virginia, 78-68
12/30/2018 5:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.V. – Lehigh and West Virginia played back-and-forth for much of the contest, but the Mountaineers (8-4) used a late run to turn a three-point lead into a 13-point advantage, on its way to beating the Mountain Hawks (7-4), 78-68 on Sunday at WVU Coliseum. In the final nonleague contest of the season, junior Pat Andree led the offense with 18 points, 15 coming in the first half while classmate Jordan Cohen added 14 as Lehigh's bid for its first-ever win over the Big 12 fell a little short. The Mountain Hawks will open Patriot League play on Wednesday when it hosts archrival Lafayette at 7 p.m.
"I'm disappointed we lost," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "Give West Virginia credit. They had power and might on the inside and they really hurt us with some interior scoring. I thought Derek Culver came in and gave them a really nice boost (11 points, 11 rebounds). We have to find a way to diminish that rebounding discrepancy (52-25) and put ourselves in a position to close out possessions."
The rebounding margin led to West Virginia tallying 30-2 edge in second-chance points, proving critical.
"I thought overall, our consistency on the defensive end was a little bit better, but we just couldn't come up with the ball to finish those possessions," said Reed.
Andree's first half saw him score 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three. He finished the evening 4-of-9 from distance. Cohen was a perfect 2-of-2 from three, including a four-point play, while senior Kyle Leufroy was 1-of-2. Seniors Leufroy and Lance Tejada were the third and fourth Mountain Hawks to reach double-figure points, scoring 12 and 10, respectively.
After West Virginia jumped out front 7-2, Leufroy scored six of the next eight as his three-point play pulled Lehigh within 9-8 with 15:47 left in the first half.
Later in the half, Andree began to heat up, knocking down two treys in 1:08 to even the score at 11 then 14. A few minutes later, freshman Jeameril Wilson finished an alley-oop from Tejada to pull Lehigh even at 18 with 10:44 left in the stanza.
Only one point was scored by either side over the next 3:36, a Tejada technical free throw to put Lehigh in front 19-18, its first lead since 2-0. The rest of the half saw seven lead changes as Andree put the Mountain Hawks in front 30-29 with a three-pointer, and 32-31 with a jumper, but the Mountaineers scored seven of the final nine first-half points to take a 38-34 lead into the locker room.
Lehigh scored eight of the first 11 points in the second, capped off by a Cohen four-point play to give the Mountain Hawks the lead back, 42-41.
West Virginia came back with an 11-2 run to take a 52-44 advantage with 13:15 on the clock, but a 6-0 Lehigh surge, which included a Tejada three-pointer following a great look from sophomore Caleb Bennett, pulled the Mountain Hawks within 52-50 with 11:18 remaining.
The Mountaineers re-opened a 59-52 lead, but again, Lehigh answered with an Andree three and Cohen driving layup to get right back within 59-57 with 7:46 to go.
A Tejada and-one layup pulled the Mountain Hawks back within 62-59, but that's as close as they would come. West Virginia all but sealed the victory with a 12-2 run to take a 13-point advantage following a James Bolden trey with 2:26 remaining. Lehigh couldn't get closer than 10 the rest of the way, falling 78-68.
For the game, Lehigh shot 43.6 percent from the field (24-of-55), including 42.9 percent from three-point range (9-of-21). West Virginia finished at 41.5 percent (27-of-65) and 34.5 percent from behind the arc (10-of-29). The Mountain Hawks only turned the ball over eight times while helping force 12 West Virginia turnovers.
In his career, Reed has now faced three of the top four active coaches for Division I victories, with Lehigh getting outscored by an average of just five points over those three contests. Reed owns a win over Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and tight 10-point defeats against Syracuse's Jim Boeheim and West Virginia's Bob Huggins, featuring competitive contests deep into the second half.
Lehigh will return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 2 when it hosts archrival Lafayette in the Patriot League opener. Opening tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online by clicking here.
"We have put ourselves in a position to at least be competitive in the league, but there are a lot of good teams," said Reed. "We know the quality of coaching and play in the Patriot League. Anything can happen on any given night, and it's our responsibility to bring the best version of ourselves. As a coach, you welcome that challenge when you are trying to grow young men to consistently play to their potential. Hopefully, we'll be able to do that and a byproduct will be a really competitive season and a great opportunity for us to continue to grow, not only through January, but also February."
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
"I'm disappointed we lost," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "Give West Virginia credit. They had power and might on the inside and they really hurt us with some interior scoring. I thought Derek Culver came in and gave them a really nice boost (11 points, 11 rebounds). We have to find a way to diminish that rebounding discrepancy (52-25) and put ourselves in a position to close out possessions."
The rebounding margin led to West Virginia tallying 30-2 edge in second-chance points, proving critical.
"I thought overall, our consistency on the defensive end was a little bit better, but we just couldn't come up with the ball to finish those possessions," said Reed.
Andree's first half saw him score 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three. He finished the evening 4-of-9 from distance. Cohen was a perfect 2-of-2 from three, including a four-point play, while senior Kyle Leufroy was 1-of-2. Seniors Leufroy and Lance Tejada were the third and fourth Mountain Hawks to reach double-figure points, scoring 12 and 10, respectively.
After West Virginia jumped out front 7-2, Leufroy scored six of the next eight as his three-point play pulled Lehigh within 9-8 with 15:47 left in the first half.
Later in the half, Andree began to heat up, knocking down two treys in 1:08 to even the score at 11 then 14. A few minutes later, freshman Jeameril Wilson finished an alley-oop from Tejada to pull Lehigh even at 18 with 10:44 left in the stanza.
Lance Tejada with the alley. Jeameril Wilson with the oop. pic.twitter.com/8kUU1WuLQx
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) December 30, 2018
Only one point was scored by either side over the next 3:36, a Tejada technical free throw to put Lehigh in front 19-18, its first lead since 2-0. The rest of the half saw seven lead changes as Andree put the Mountain Hawks in front 30-29 with a three-pointer, and 32-31 with a jumper, but the Mountaineers scored seven of the final nine first-half points to take a 38-34 lead into the locker room.
Lehigh scored eight of the first 11 points in the second, capped off by a Cohen four-point play to give the Mountain Hawks the lead back, 42-41.
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) December 30, 2018
West Virginia came back with an 11-2 run to take a 52-44 advantage with 13:15 on the clock, but a 6-0 Lehigh surge, which included a Tejada three-pointer following a great look from sophomore Caleb Bennett, pulled the Mountain Hawks within 52-50 with 11:18 remaining.
This is pretty basketball. Extra pass = three for LT pic.twitter.com/JJPZppNjHR
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) December 30, 2018
The Mountaineers re-opened a 59-52 lead, but again, Lehigh answered with an Andree three and Cohen driving layup to get right back within 59-57 with 7:46 to go.
Ice cold for Pat Andree pic.twitter.com/nN3DJVO5Dc
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) December 30, 2018
A Tejada and-one layup pulled the Mountain Hawks back within 62-59, but that's as close as they would come. West Virginia all but sealed the victory with a 12-2 run to take a 13-point advantage following a James Bolden trey with 2:26 remaining. Lehigh couldn't get closer than 10 the rest of the way, falling 78-68.
For the game, Lehigh shot 43.6 percent from the field (24-of-55), including 42.9 percent from three-point range (9-of-21). West Virginia finished at 41.5 percent (27-of-65) and 34.5 percent from behind the arc (10-of-29). The Mountain Hawks only turned the ball over eight times while helping force 12 West Virginia turnovers.
In his career, Reed has now faced three of the top four active coaches for Division I victories, with Lehigh getting outscored by an average of just five points over those three contests. Reed owns a win over Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and tight 10-point defeats against Syracuse's Jim Boeheim and West Virginia's Bob Huggins, featuring competitive contests deep into the second half.
Lehigh will return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 2 when it hosts archrival Lafayette in the Patriot League opener. Opening tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online by clicking here.
"We have put ourselves in a position to at least be competitive in the league, but there are a lot of good teams," said Reed. "We know the quality of coaching and play in the Patriot League. Anything can happen on any given night, and it's our responsibility to bring the best version of ourselves. As a coach, you welcome that challenge when you are trying to grow young men to consistently play to their potential. Hopefully, we'll be able to do that and a byproduct will be a really competitive season and a great opportunity for us to continue to grow, not only through January, but also February."
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Team Stats
LEHIGH
WVU
FG%
.436
.415
3FG%
.429
.345
FT%
.733
.609
RB
25
52
TO
8
12
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
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