Mountaineers Ride Threes to Crown

Mar 30, 09:11 AM

Current Headlines: By Bob Herzog, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

Mar. 30--West Virginia coach John Beilein had a decision to make. Should he put his star shooter, Frank Young, back in the game with two fouls or try to ride out Clemson's surge until halftime?

"I felt we needed him, but we had a stern talk," Beilein said with a tight smile. "Under no conditions would he foul anybody."

So with the Mountaineers up 26-24, Young re-entered after the under four-minute media timeout. He immediately nailed two long three-pointers, and his presence freed Jamie Smalligan and Da'Sean Butler for open threes. That 12-0 surge gave West Virginia a 38-26 halftime lead that it built to 17 points five minutes into the second half.

The Mountaineers (27-9) cruised to a 78-73 win in last night's NIT final at Madison Square Garden. The score looked respectable only because the Tigers (25-11) scored 11 straight points in the final 52 seconds.

"When you shoot that well, coaches become better coaches," Beilein said of Young, who certainly became a better player in March. The 6-5 senior forward capped a marvelous month by hitting 6 of 7 three-pointers, scoring a game-high 24 points and winning the most outstanding player trophy.

"It was gratifying. You can see how far I've come as a player," said Young, who hardly played in his first two seasons. "I took on the pressure to lead the team and the trophy signifies that."

After averaging only 13.5 points in the regular season, Young's game came alive in postseason, when he averaged nearly 22 in seven games, two in the Big East Tournament and five in the NIT. "I knew I had to step up," Young said, "knowing every game could be my last game."

All the Mountaineers played with urgency and proficiency last night. Their game is the three-pointer, and they hit an amazing 60 percent (12-for-20) from beyond the arc. They shot well from all over, hitting 50.9 percent. Butler came off the bench to score 20 points and Darris Nichols had 13 plus nine assists.

Every Clemson starter was in double figures, led by K.C. Rivers' 18 points. But Rivers hit only 3-for-11 from downtown and the Tigers were 6-for-23. "The story of the game was us giving up threes and them making threes," Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said. "Our game plan was to take those away. We didn't do that."

Appropriately, a three by Young provided the game's largest margin at 49-32. The only thing that prevented a blowout was the play of Clemson guard Vernon Hamilton, who had 14 of his 16 points after intermission.

West Virginia won the NIT for the first time since 1942. The Mountaineers might have wished they were in the NCAA Tournament, but they savored the moment.

Beilein's only sour moment came late in his postgame news conference when he was asked about a report on ESPN.com yesterday saying he was the No. 1 candidate for the Michigan job.

"Excuse me!" Beilein said tersely. "I think this is about this game right now. Let's just talk about this game. I think that's the issue tonight."

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Copyright (c) 2007, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

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