Florida Upsets No. 11 West Virginia in Big 12/SEC Challenge

West Virginia falls to Gators in Morgantown.

No. 11 West Virginia fell to Florida 85-80 on Saturday evening dropping the Mountaineers to 11-5 on the season.

The first 20 minutes of play were tightly contested as expected as both teams traded buckets for much of the first half. WVU sophomore guard Miles McBride picked up where he left off on Monday night by making three of his first four shots from the floor. Florida made some adjustments a few minutes into the game and did not allow much room for McBride to go to work as he cooled off missing his final ten shots of the game.

The Gators did a good job attacking the paint where they did the majority of their damage (16 points). What doesn't show in that stat is the 21 free-throw attempts Florida attempted in the first half, all of which came from attacking the rim and driving the ball right down the lane through traffic. 

After a sluggish two games, WVU big man Derek Culver played exceptionally well and gave the Mountaineers a ton of production out of the shoot. Florida rotated numerous bigs on him but none of which had the answer to slow him down. He finished the half with 21 points and five rebounds shooting 6/6 from the floor and 9/11 from the charity stripe. If Culver wasn't making a shot, he was drawing a foul.

Junior guard Sean McNeil provided a spark off the bench sinking three three-pointers. West Virginia led at the break, 42-37.

One minute into the 2nd half, McBride picked up his third foul of the game sending him to the bench. A few minutes later, Huggins sent Culver to the bench to get some rest and Florida took full advantage and regained the lead 61-58. Noah Locke hit a pair of threes for Florida while West Virginia's offense looked out of flux with McBride and Culver both out of the game. 

Florida clamped down on McBride when he re-entered and essentially took him out of the game offensively. West Virginia's defense gave up way too many easy looks both inside the paint and behind the arc that allowed Florida to continue to consistently make baskets. West Virginia trailed 83-80 with 45 seconds to go but could not get a clean look at the basket which forced Taz Sherman to throw up a near halfcourt heave. Florida knocked down a pair of free-throws to put the game out of reach in the final seconds of play to secure the upset victory.

The Mountaineers will return to Big 12 play on Tuesday as they face the struggling Iowa State Cyclones.

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