West Virginia upends UConn behind career day from Alexander

#5 West Virginia 78 - #4 UConn 72

The last time these two teams met, West Virginia forward Joe Alexander went off for 32 points, but UConn held on for the victory. This time around, Alexander went for more, and the Huskies weren’t so lucky.

Alexander had a career day, scoring 34 points on 12-of-22 shooting to lead West Virginia past UConn 78-72 in the Big East quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon. Once again, Alexander was sensational, and he was able to consistently get into the teeth of UConn’s defense. Alexander connected on 10-of-12 free throws as well. The win marks the second time in the past four years West Virginia advances to the semifinal round of the Big East tournament. Alexander had 22 points in Wednesday’s opening round win against Providence, and Alexander has averaged 28 ppg in the Mountaineers’ two wins. Alexander is averaging nearly 30 points per game in West Virginia’s last five games (29.8).

A.J. Price’s 22 points couldn’t lift UConn, who lost for the fourth time in a row in the Big East tournament. UConn was hammered on the glass by WVU, as the Mountaineers outrebounded the Huskies 42-26. Hasheem Thabeet was not a factor for UConn, finishing with just six points and six rebounds. Jeff Adrien finished with 11 points, but like Thabeet, Adrien was plagued by foul trouble and found it tough to get into a flow on offense. Adrien and Thabeet each committed four fouls.

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As great as Alexander was, he wasn’t without help. De’Sean Butler finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, and Darris Nichols added 13. The win may finally cement West Virginia’s spot in the NCAA Tournament, and the Mountaineers will advance to the Big East semifinals on Friday night to face the No. 1 seed and No. 9 Georgetown Hoyas. West Virginia lost a heartbreaker to Georgetown in the teams’ only meeting this season. In Morgantown, the Hoyas used some late game heroics from Patrick Ewing Jr. to help Georgetown get out of West Virginia with a win, 55-54, thanks to Ewing’s block on Butler as time expired.

by Frank Minniti
BigEast-fans.com Director of Content

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