4 Takeaways From West Virginia's Comeback Win in College Basketball Crown Title Game
T-MOBILE ARENA (LAS VEGAS) After nearly two and a half hours of seesawing leads and pendulum-esque momentum swings, after an overtime session in which one team scored six consecutive points and the other the eventual winner reeled off the final 13 to capture the second annual College Basketball Crown, a celebration befitting this city awaited anyone and everyone associated with West Virginia. Out came the championship hats and necklaces. Out came the cell phone cameras and social media apps for live broadcasting directly from center court. Out came the finger-rubbing money gestures from seemingly every player on the Mountaineers roster. And through it all, moments before the blue and yellow confetti rained down on the would-be recipients of $300,000 in NIL prize money, the lyrics to "We Fly High" by rapper Jim Jones blared through the sound system. We stay fly, no lie, and you know this ballin'! Hips and thighs, oh my, stay focused! To the victors went the spoils and the crown: West Virginia 89, Oklahoma 82. "Like this group can do and has shown an ability to do all year long," head coach Ross Hodge said in the post-game news conference, "when it looked like we were just about done for, you know, their competitive spirit and their competitiveness and love for each other kicks in." Here are my takeaways from the championship game of the College Basketball Crown: 1. West Virginia point guard Honor Huff steals the show When the actual crown that doubles as the trophy for this event was brought to center court amid the championship celebration, the Mountaineers attempted to place it on Honor Huffs head. Huff, a diminutive point guard generously listed at 5-foot-10, had poured in a game-high 38 points while splashing eight 3-pointers and making all 12 of his free-throw attempts. He was, simultaneously, the smallest and best player on the floor. "Some of the shots they hit, youve just got to tip your hat to Honor Huff," Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser said during the post-game news conference in response to my question about West Virginias perimeter shooting. "I mean, he made some incredible shots. We talked about, What could we do? Our ball-screen defense needed to be better. And you cant take a swimmers breath on him. Hell get separation. He doesnt need much separation. Hes hitting step-backs, hes flying off screens. I mean, [he scored] 38." It was more than enough for Huff to be named the Most Valuable Player, an award that came with a shimmering necklace containing two gold dice. He was dubbed King of the Crown and flashed his newly won chain for all to see in the post-game photos. The only reason his teammates didnt succeed in placing the crown on his head was because Huff already donned a championship hat. Minutes earlier, one Mountaineer fan had screamed "West Virginia, baby!" as Huff stepped to the free-throw line with 55.2 seconds remaining in overtime. When he arrived at the stripe again 18 seconds later by which time the Sooners were intentionally fouling another West Virginia supporter shouted, "Oklahoma is choking!" Still, Huffs facial expression never changed. Even as he dribbled out most of the clock in the waning seconds, he wouldnt allow himself to smile. But when Huff walked toward the West Virginia bench and was engulfed by coaches and teammates alike, an ear-to-ear grin stretched across his face. Hed willed his team to a win, a championship and a hefty payday with the third 30-point game of his collegiate career. "Hes a really great shooter," Mountaineers power forward Brenen Lorient said during the post-game news conference in response to my question about watching Huffs performance. "Probably the best shooter I ever played with. Im just happy I was here to play with him." 2. Unexpected 3-point prowess propels the Mountaineers to victory When this years College Basketball Crown began, there was very little about West Virginias analytic profile that suggested the Mountaineers would become 3-point marksmen here in Las Vegas. The Mountaineers entered the championship game ranked 251st nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (32.5%) and only relied on perimeter jumpers for 32.9% of their total points, which ranked 137th overall, according to KenPom. They were, by a fairly wide margin, the worst 3-point shooting team during Big 12 conference play, trailing 15th-place TCU by nearly two full percentage points. And yet, following a decidedly poor shooting effort in an opening-round win over Stanford (2-for-20 from beyond the arc), the Mountaineers ignited over the final two games of the tournament. Hodges team buried 12 of its 30 attempts (40%) to pull away from Creighton, 87-70, in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon. A day later, West Virginia scorched from the opening tip by making seven of its first nine attempts by the 11:47 mark to build a double-digit lead before Oklahoma seemed to realize the game had begun. [CBB CROWN RECAP: How WVU Outlasted Oklahoma in OT] The barrage started with Huff, a 34.6% shooter, who made five consecutive 3s in an instant, matching the point total for the entire Sooners team with nine minutes remaining in the half. When his fifth straight attempt swished through the hoop, to the slack-jawed disbelief of everyone along the Oklahoma bench, Huff bounced on his toes with glee while the Mountaineer faithful roared. "Honor led the country in 3s last year," Hodge said during the post-game news conference in response to my question about the Mountaineers perimeter shooting. "He didnt make one in the first game, so law of averages tells you hes going to make a couple." A couple, as Hodge phrased it, wound up being eight in the championship game alone all of them necessary. The rest of Huffs teammates combined to make seven triples on an afternoon when West Virginia outscored its opponent by 21 points from beyond the arc. By the time this tournament ended, the Mountaineers had drilled 27 3-pointers over their final two outings combined. Its a number they only reached once in any other two-game stretch this season. 3. Elite Oklahoma offense can only carry the team so far In addition to having the strongest overall rsum of any team in this years College Basketball Crown, one of the reasons why Oklahoma was such a popular pick to win the event centered around the Sooners prolific offense. Mosers team entered the tournament with an offense that ranked among the top 20 nationally in efficiency, according to KenPom, and the group entered Sundays title game at No. 20 exactly. Thats a better ranking than the offenses for teams like Iowa State, Michigan State, Tennessee and UConn, all of whom made deep runs in the NCAA Tournament. Such potency at the end of the floor was on full display in Sundays title game against West Virginia. The Sooners were blitzed from the 3-point line early, falling behind by double digits at the midway mark of the first half. But then the free-flowing group that performed so well all season flashed its might. Oklahoma unleashed a breathtaking 24-4 run in the span of eight minutes to stun the Mountaineers and upend the original script. When extended to the early portion of the second half, the Sooners enjoyed a run of 15 made field goals in 18 attempts to build a 10-point lead of their own. "Just an incredible basketball game," Hodge said in the post-game news conference. "A lot of ebbs and flows." Slowly but surely, though, an Oklahoma defense that now ranks 99th nationally in efficiency began to splinter. In addition to the Sooners struggles defending Huff, who was remarkable, they allowed the Mountaineers to shoot 52% from the floor in the second half. At one point, West Virginia made seven of eight field goals to begin digging out of a double-digit deficit. There were only two instances in the entire second half and overtime when Mosers team forced more than two consecutive missed shots. 4. Long and winding career for Sooners guard Nijel Pack ends in defeat Its amazing to think about much has changed since Oklahoma point guard Nijel Pack, a well-traveled redshirt senior, made his original collegiate commitment to Kansas State on June 12, 2019, as a four-star prospect and the No. 126 overall player in the country. Back then, the COVID-19 pandemic was still six months from arriving en masse in the United States. Bruce Weber, who resigned from Kansas State following the 2022 season, was still the head coach of the Wildcats and the man who recruited Pack. His tenure has since given way to Jerome Tang, interim coach Matthew Driscoll and, presently, Casey Alexander, formerly of Belmont. The Big Ten had yet to annex Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA. The SEC hadnt snared Oklahoma and Texas from the SEC. Heck, NIL didnt even exist. Between then and now, Pack spent two seasons at Kansas State (first-team All-Big 12 in 2022) and three seasons with the Miami Hurricanes (including a Final Four in 2023) before ultimately landing at Oklahoma, where he averaged 16.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists this season. The championship game for the College Basketball Crown marked his 159th collegiate game and his 158th start. Only a select group of players, all of whom benefited from an extra year due to the pandemic, have ever logged more appearances. "And every one of those games, he gave his all," Moser said during the post-game news conference in response to my question about Packs career. "He gave every practice his all. I mean, he practices and he prepares unbelievably. Hes an extraordinary teammate, extraordinary teammate. Hes crushed right now. He just played his last game. But man, extraordinary teammate [and an] unbelievable career." Though his team ultimately fell short, Pack did all he could to keep the Sooners afloat down the stretch. He scored a team-high 24 points on 50% shooting and dished out a game-high seven assists. It was his 3-pointer with 1:28 remaining in regulation that, for a moment, seemed like a potential capstone for an incredible career. But overtime soon arrived, and Oklahoma quickly wilted. 4. Whats next? Three teams that participated in last years College Basketball Crown used that experience as a launching point to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in 2026: Villanova, UCF and Nebraska, which enjoyed the best season in program history and reached the Sweet 16. Based on the way Oklahoma and West Virginia performed over the last few days in Las Vegas, handling opponents with relative ease in the semifinals, its certainly possible for both teams to make similar leaps next season. The Sooners, who have publicly committed to giving Moser more NIL resources, will need to invest heavily in the transfer portal to replenish a roster that includes six seniors. Mosers high school recruiting class for 2026 only includes one player in four-star power forward Gage Mayfield (No. 72 overall, No. 12 PF). West Virginia also is losing the core of its roster, which featured seven players listed as seniors or older at the College Basketball Crown. But Hodge has put together the nations 23rd-ranked recruiting class thus far, led by five-star point guard Miles Sadler (No. 23 overall, No. 3 PG) and two additional prospects rated among the top 200 nationally. Thats a strong nucleus to build around. The transfer portal opens on April 7.
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