West Virginia pulls away in second half to capture win over Mizzou in Morgantown


By Lucas Owens
MORGANTOWN, WV – With Mizzou’s record setting free throw streak over, the Tigers had to innovate going on the road to Morgantown, WV to face the West Virginia Mountaineers as a part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.  The Tigers fought their way back into the game against Texas A&M Wednesday through making their free throws, but with West Virginia’s fantastic defense that was not going to be the case against the Mountaineers.
Things did not get off to a good start for the Tigers, who at the halfway point of the half only made 2 of their 18 field goals.  However, Mizzou then went on a 10-0 run in the five minutes after the halfway point, bringing the deficit all the way back from 20-6 to 20-16.  After struggling for the first ten minutes of actions against the Mountaineers, the Tigers dominated the final ten of the first half to narrow the score to 23-24 at the half.
However, Mizzou’s hot streak did not continue at the beginning of the second half, as the West Virginia Mountaineers went on a 16-2 surge to start the second and bring their lead to 15.  In the end, the West Virginia lead would grow to as much a 29, but Mizzou would fall 74 to 51.  
Leading the charge for Mizzou was Torrence Watson with 19 points, with 15 of those coming from threes.  The Tigers had just 30 rebounds as a team, and only eight assists. While the Tigers did not go around setting a NCAA record for free throws, they did go 14-18 from the charity strike.  
While Watson had the most points, it was Oscar Tshiebwe who had the best performance overall for the Tigers with 14 points, eight rebounds, and only two turnovers in 24 minutes.  With Jeremiah Tilmon out for the foreseeable future, Tshiebwe’s performance will be key to the Tigers bouncing back in the rest of SEC play.
The Tigers now fall to 9-10 on the season, and next face Georgia on Tuesday, January 28.  Full coverage will be available from KCOU.
Edited by Emma Moloney | ehm3gd@mail.missouri.edu

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