WVU falls to Louisville in OT of the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals

West Virginia was looking for a different kind of celebration than most Thursday afternoon. The Mountaineers faced Louisville in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament and for the second time in 24 hours, WVU played an overtime game.

West Virginia’s vacation on the hardwood wouldn’t end the way they imagined as they couldn’t keep up in overtime and fell behind 79-70.

The start was somewhat as expected for both teams as they found it difficult to get anything going on offense due to tired legs. WVU led 2-0 at the first media timeout and Louisville didn’t score until nearly five minutes into the game.

It would be a back and forth first half as Louisville led 12-10 with 7:50 left in the first half. WVU responded with a 7-0 run and then went on an 8-0 run after Louisville made a three-pointer.

West Virginia led 25-15 with 2:29 to play, but was unable to maintain that lead until halftime. Louisville ended the half with a 7-0 run as the Mountaineers took a 28-24 lead into the locker room.

The second half was just as tough as the first.

Amani Hansberry scored the first five points of the half for WVU as the Mountaineers took a nine-point lead, their largest lead of the second half.

Chucky Hepburn responded with five points of his own for Louisville, where the score stood.

WVU’s lead fluctuated between one and eight points until the 7:32 mark of the second half, when Louisville took its first lead of the second half with two free throws. Louisville went on a 14-2 run, with Hepburn scoring five of those points.

West Virginia ended the run with a jump shot from Toby Okani, and then Hansberry went to the free throw line to shoot two free throws.

WVU struggled offensively as Tucker DeVries was in foul trouble in the second half. Fouls were an issue for the Mountaineers as Louisville scored 21 points on free throws in the second half and overtime.

Despite their struggles, Okani’s basket and free throws led WVU to an 8-0 run when a jumper from Okani put the Mountaineers back in front at 60-59 with 2:00 to play.

Javon Small would give WVU a one-point lead with 49 seconds left before Hepburn tied it with a free throw with 31 seconds left. WVU then had a chance to save the last possible shot, but committed a shot clock violation with 1.8 seconds left as the game went into overtime tied 62-62.

In overtime, Louisville fired from the free throw line and near the rim. They made one three-pointer early in the period, but scored the rest of their points either on the sidelines or at the free throw line.