The University of Mississippi Athletics
West Virginia Nips Ole Miss 80-78
12/3/2008 | Men's Basketball
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - David Huertas scored a game-high 23 points, but the Rebels lost an 80-78 heartbreaker to West Virginia on Wednesday night.
Da'Sean Butler scored 22 points and Alex Ruofff hit a pair of free throws with 17.7 seconds left to seal the win for the Mountaineers.
Ruoff, who finished with 16 points, erased a 78-77 deficit with the free throws and the Mountaineers (5-1) forced a turnover and a buzzer-beating miss from 25-feet by Ole Miss guard Chris Warren.
John Flowers and Darryl Bryant had 13 and 10 points, respectively, for West Virginia, who dominated the offensive boards, 22-7. The Mountaineers, coming off a loss to Kentucky, have won 27 of the last 28 games played in December.
Huertas had his sixth 20-point effort in seven games for Ole Miss (5-2), whose 25-game home court winning streak against non-conference foes was snapped. Warren added 20 points, while Terrico White and Murphy Holloway had 13 and 11 points respectively, for the Rebels.
West Virginia, with Butler scoring 15 first half points, led 40-33 at halftime.
Ole Miss took a 49-48 lead with 15:22 left on a three-point shot by Huertas, capping a 13-4 run. The Rebels led by as much as 71-66 on a three-point shot by Huertas with 4:40 remaining.
The clubs were tied or swapped leads seven times in the final three minutes, setting up the decisive free throws by Ruoff. West Virginia, managed only 16-of-33 at the free throw line, but hit four of their last five attempts.