The West Virginia Mountaineers (14-15, 3-13) dropped its fifth straight game Saturday afternoon 82-81 to the No 20 Texas Longhorns (21-8, 10-6).
West Virginia got out to a 9-4 lead behind a pair of buckers from Taz Sherman before Texas pieced together an 11-1 to grab the 15-0 advantage.
Texas would lead by as many as nine in the first half, shooting 65.2% from the field including 5-7 from three-point range. However, after being on the wrong end of a flagrant two from Texas forward Brock Cunningham, West Virginia guard Malik Curry began leading the Mountaineers and kept them within striking range, leading all scorers with 13 first half points as the Longhorns went into the break with a six-point lead, 43-37.
The Mountaineers quickly chipped away at the lead after guard Sean McNeil started the second half with a jumper before constructing a 12-0 run to take a 47-40 lead with 14:04 remaining.
West Virginia built a 10-point lead midway through the second half but Texas never cooled, and Marcus Carr answered with a corner three to get the Longhorns back within seven. Despite the Mountaineers shooting over 50% from the field, Texas put in nearly everything they threw up, outscoring West Virginia 22-8 to take a four-point lead with 3:17 left to play.
Curry got the Mountaineers within one with 11 seconds remaining in the game after driving to the basket and completing the three-point play. Then, West Virginia forced a turnover on the inbounds pass. Curry went isolation and pulled up for the jumper just inside the top of the key but came up short as Texas held on 82-81.
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