Mountaineers reverse fortunes

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Less than two weeks ago, West Virginia was desperate for a win in the Big East men’s basketball tournament just to have a shot at joining the NCAA field.

Now the Mountaineers are left to help carry the banner of a conference that has won the last two NCAA titles.

While Big East heavyweights Syracuse, Boston College, Connecticut and Pittsburgh have seen their seasons end, West Virginia and Villanova are still alive. A double-overtime win over Wake Forest on Saturday night added to the string of Mountaineers upsets that started with a three-game run to the conference tournament championship game.

The school whose biggest basketball claim to fame is Jerry West has made the most of a rare NCAA Tournament appearance, advancing to the third round to match its previous best run in 1998.

“We don’t expect anything, and because of that, you’re never surprised,” West Virginia coach John Beilein said Monday. “It’s just been a great run. This is not about having better players or better coaching or anything like that. The ball just bounces your way and you just keep going with it.”

The Mountaineers (23-10) will take on Bob Knight’s Texas Tech (22-10) Thursday in the Albuquerque Regional semifinals. A win would give West Virginia its deepest march into the tournament since a West-led team was runner-up to California in 1959.

Not bad for a team without a superstar that was picked to finish ninth in its conference.