The Big East Conference earned its first victory in the 2011 NCAA Tournament Thursday as the No. 5-seeded West Virginia Mountaineers downed No. 12 Clemson, 84-76, in the second round contest in Tampa, FL. The Mountaineers (21-11) will either play No. 3 BYU or No. 14 Wofford Saturday in the third round.
Junior guard Darryl Bryant netted a team-best 19 points for WVU, which used a 12-3 run to take a 52-43 lead with 14:31 to play in the second half. From there, Clemson slow chipped away at the score and got to within three points, 74-71, with 1:40 to play. However, the Mountaineers, helped by sophomore guard Dalton Pepper's four points and three steals, outscored the Tigers 10-5 in the last 1:43 to hold on.
Junior guard Kevin Jones finished with 17 points on 6-of-11 (54.5 percent) shooting for the Mountaineers, while teammate senior forward Joe Mazzulla netted 12 points. Pepper finished with 12-bench points.
Meanwhile in Denver, CO., the Louisville basketball score has the No. 4 Cardinals tied with No. 13 Morehead State, 33-33, at hafltime.
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