WVU Brener Lorient drives previous a BYU defender.
MORGANTOWN — The play of WVU ahead Brenen Lorient on Saturday was perhaps the very best instance of why the plus-minus statistic in basketball is essentially the most nugatory determine in sports activities.
In what ended up being a second to have a good time, and Lorient and his teammates did simply that with a victory lap across the Hope Coliseum ground handing out hi-fives to the followers, the Mountaineers upended No. 19 BYU with a 79-71 victory.
In the center of considered one of West Virginia’s greatest wins of the season was the 6-foot-9 Lorient, who could have come away together with his greatest sport of the season.
“B-Lo was really active,” WVU head coach Ross Hodge mentioned.
It was the understatement of the sport, as Lorient completed with 18 factors, 9 rebounds and three assists. Of his 9 rebounds, seven of them got here on the offensive finish.
Yet, the field rating on the finish of the sport listed Lorient’s efforts as a minus (-7). This was undoubtedly not a minus-7 sort of sport Lorient had simply performed.
“No, not tonight,” Hodge mentioned with a smile.
Lorient’s listing of accomplishments on this one is lengthy, but it surely begins with the protection he and teammate Chance Moore performed on BYU famous person A.J. Dybantsa. The nation’s main scorer was held to simply 4 factors within the first half – WVU (17-12, 8-8 Big 12) held a 40-26 lead on the break – and he tried simply 4 pictures.
“He was solid,” Dybantsa mentioned of Lorient. “He kept sending me to the double team, which was probably their defensive scheme. I saw a lot of bodies today, so credit to him.”
Dybantsa completed with 20, 5 factors beneath his season common, however whilst he started to get extra aggressive within the second half, the longer term NBA lottery decide couldn’t get the Cougars (20-9, 8-8) over the hump.
“He has great length and is very skilled,” Moore mentioned of Dybantsa. “He knows his spots very well, so we were just trying to get physical without fouling. We wanted to make it as tough on him as possible, just don’t give him any easy ones.”
Then got here these rebounds. WVU knew BYU was going to make a run at it within the second half. Hodge spent a part of his postgame press convention itemizing the occasions the Cougars had fallen behind, solely to mount a comeback.
Lorient simply saved grabbing WVU’s misses within the second half, protecting BYU’s offense away from the ball and giving his teammates one other alternative to attain and run day off the clock.
Three of Lorient’s offensive rebounds within the second half straight led to 6 of WVU’s 15 second-chance factors.
“The last two games, we got killed on the glass pretty bad,” Lorient mentioned. “It was a big emphasis by the coaches to get more rebounds and more opportunities.”
Overall, WVU completed with a 39-29 rebounding benefit.
“That’s why we lost,” BYU head coach Kevin Young mentioned. “They had 18 offensive rebounds. We’re usually pretty good. We’re actually one of the best teams in the conference at (offensive rebounding), but every time we had them on the ropes, it felt like they got another offensive rebound.”
BYU did make a run, chopping that 14-point deficit at halftime right down to 72-69 with 1:55 remaining within the sport. Lorient gave the Mountaineers a 74-69 cushion together with his drive to the basket for a lay-up. He scored 14 of his 18 factors within the second half.
“It’s tough, because I missed those early ones,” Lorient mentioned. “Usually whenever I don’t get those easy ones to go in early, I just focus on doing the little things better. Rebounding, getting stops on defense, that’s usually my main focus at those times.”
Lorient capped off his evening with one closing defensive play in opposition to Dybantsa, blocking his 3-point try within the nook with 18 seconds remaining when WVU’s lead was 75-71.
“It was a crucial moment, because they had just scored,” Lorient mentioned of the play. “I’d seen him slide out, so I knew they were going to try and get something at the 3-point line. I just contested it straight up, and I was able to block it.”
WVU ended a three-game dropping skid with the win. Honor Huff led the Mountaineers with 19 factors and freshman D.J. Thomas scored 11 of his 13 factors within the first half. Moore and Jasper Floyd every added 11 for WVU, which is now in a three-way tie for eighth place within the Big 12, together with BYU and Cincinnati.
The prime eight colleges all obtain not less than a first-round bye within the Big 12 event and WVU now owns the tiebreaker in opposition to BYU and Cincinnati.