The West Virginia Mountaineers (16-16) advanced to the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Conference Tournament after defeating the Kansas State Wildcats (14-17) Wednesday night 73-67.
West Virginia guard Sean McNeil got off to a hot start, hitting three of his first four threes and igniting a 7-0 run to take an early 16-10 lead.
Eight Mountaineers scored by the midway point of the first and held a six-point lead 22-16.
Both programs shot 50% from the field at the break, but West Virginia won the battle in the paint, outrebounding the Wildcats 17-13 and outscored K-State 18-12 in the paint, while Sean McNeil led all scorers with 15 first half points on 6-9 shooting from the field, including 3-5 from three-point range.
Kansas State remained hot from the outside to begin the second half, hitting three of their first four threes to tie the game at 45 at the 15:42 mark, but West Virginia guard Kedrian Johnson quickly answered, driving down the lane and finishing with the tough basket, sparking a 10-2 run driven by guard Malik Curry attacking the basket and the Mountaineers held an eight-point advantage midway through the second half.
Wildcats guard Nigel Pack responded, guiding his team on an 8-0 run to tie the game with just over nine minutes remaining, forcing West Virginia head coach to call a timeout.
The Mountaineers looked to forward Pauly Paulicap out of the time out and responded with a contested look on the left block to give West Virginia the two-point edge.
Kansas State got back within one with six minutes remaining, but Taz Sherman hit a deep three then, Malik Curry buried three on the ensuing possession, and a steal by Curry ahead to McNeil for the lay-in had the Mountaineers up nine with 3:29 left to play.
West Virginia never looked back behind the second half play of Curry, producing 11 second half points, finishing with 17 on the night as Sean McNeil led all scorers with 21 points as the Mountaineers took down K-State 73-67 and move on to face the one-seeded Kansas Jayhawks in the quarterfinals Thursday at 3:00 pm EST.
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