RECAP: Cowboys stun Mountaineers in Morgantown 88-85

WHAT. A. GAME.

The Cowboys came into Morgantown to face No. 19 West Virginia, and many people had little hope. After all, the Cowboys just got embarrassed in front of their (painfully small) home crowd and now they had to go to Crazy Country in front of another sellout crowd.

But they rose to the occasion. Just seven days after knocking off Kansas in Lawrence, the Cowboys knocked another conference team down a peg, showing the nation that there is NO safety in the Big 12. Ever.

In a game full of back-and-forth scoring, featuring 14 ties and 14 lead changes, neither team was able to pull away. The Mountaineers were only able to build an 8-point lead in the second half before the Cowboys came roaring back.

West Virginia took a 3-point lead into the half after the Cowboys surprised everyone by keeping it close throughout the first 20 minutes.

It didn’t feel like it, but the Cowboys won the second half 52-46.

Cam McGriff continued to show us that he is here to stay. He stuffed the stat sheet again, this time with 20 points including a perfect 13-of-13 from the free throw line. He added nine rebounds, an assist and a block before being disqualified on a whistle-happy day. (More on that in a minute.)

Kendall Smith also added 20 points in the winning effort. He was 7-of-12 from the field and had three rebounds and three assists in his 23 minutes of work.

Lindy “Ice” Waters was the hero for the Cowboys, nailing his two 3-pointers in the last 91 seconds of the game to propel the Cowboys to the win. He had 10 points, all in the second half.

Javon Carter went off for a career high today (surprise, surprise). The 40-year-old college student torched the Cowboys for 33 points, including a perfect 10-for-10 from the line. He added four rebounds and four assists in 37 minutes, and was one of only two Mountaineers in the positives in the +/- game, finishing with a +9.

Now let’s talk about the refs, because HOLY H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS were they unbearable today.

There were 47 personal fouls called today between the two teams. The game had ZERO flow, because the refs must have been too tired to keep up with the teams, so they kept calling for breathers.

Time for some hard-hitting stats.

56 percent of the Cowboys that played were in foul trouble. 40 percent of the Mountaineers were. The refs called a lot of touch fouls, but would let blatant fouls go. I’m not sure why this year’s Big 12 refs are so incredibly awful, but it makes for terrible games to watch, knowing that more likely than not, a foul will be called on every drive.

Moving on, this is impressive.

Yep. Travis Ford and Mike Boynton are the only two coaches in the past 10 years to defeat both Bill Self and Bob Huggins on their home floors in the same season.

With the win, the Cowboys improve to 15-10 on the season and 5-7 in conference play. Mike Boynton is still knocking on the NCAA Tournament door, but they HAVE TO take care of the sub-par teams - especially at home.

This team has shown that they thrive in a full and incredibly rowdy arena - whether it’s for them or against them.

Up next, the Cowboys face off with Kansas State Wednesday night in Gallagher-Iba Arena. What more do the Cowboys have to do to get the fan support they so clearly love?

Tip-off is at 6 p.m. on Valentines Day. Grab your sweetheart, go to the game and support Mike Boynton and the Cowboys!