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Macon Leads WVU  Over Texas Tech

MORGANTOWN — After sustaining their third overtime loss of the season at No. 3 Kansas on Monday, Bob Huggins’ No. 13 West Virginia Mountaineers began the tough road to “Macon” their way back into the Big 12 race with a hard fought, 83-74, win over Texas Tech Saturday at the Coliseum.

“That’s the Elijah (Macon) everybody thought we got when we recruited him,” Huggins said.

“His attitude has become so much better. He’s listening. I’d like to get him to teach a couple of others the same thing.”

The win improved West Virginia to 21-6 overall and 9-5 in the conference with a home encounter with Texas slated for 9 p.m. on Monday.

“Can’t do a whole lot,” Huggins said. “Texas has such great size and athleticism.”

But, so do the Mountaineers. Especially when Macon plays like he did against the Red Raiders.

“I prayed before the game,” said Macon, who recorded his first double-double at WVU. “I talked to my mom before the game. I don’t know. I had a lot of energy. I just told the guys that the game wasn’t out of reach.

“I wasn’t tired, but it looked (in the second overtime) like they were.”

Junior Jevon Carter scored a team-high 24 points, but it was Macon’s 17 points and 12 rebounds which proved to be the biggest difference. Especially, when you look back at his previous encounter with the team from Lubbock, Texas.

Playing only four minutes, Macon failed to score and had only one rebound and three turnovers in WVU’s 77-76 overtime setback.

“I just knew that I could play better than that,” the Columbus, Ohio native said. “For me, it’s more mental. It was all about stops in that last overtime. It just shows what we can do in tough situations.”

And, for a short period of time in the first overtime, it appeared as if the Mountaineers would suffer their second overtime loss of the week as well as its second to the Red Raiders.

Trailing by two, 68-66, Macon hauled down one of his game-high 12 rebounds and was fouled by TTU’s Zach Smith. The junior, who was shooting only 63 percent from the free-throw line, calmly went to the line and hit both freebies to knot the game at 68-68 with 2:06 showing on the clock.

Then, after the Red Raiders’ Aaron Ross pushed the visitors back into the lead with a deuce, the 6-foot-9 forward again went to the offensive glass to grab a missed Carter attempt and was again fouled, this time by TTU’s Ross. This time he was only able to make good on one-of-two opportunities to leave the hosts trailing, 70-69, with 1:27 left in the first extra frame.

However, unlike in its meltdown in Lawrence five days earlier, it would be the Red Raiders which would come up empty on its next trip down the floor and a foul whistled on TTU’s Devon Thomas put Carter on the line with a chance to win the game with 19.9 ticks left.

But, Carter’s first shot bounced off of the front of the rim. That would not be the case on his second shot, however, and the teams headed to a second overtime when Keenan Evan’s shot came up short just as time expired.

The second five minute period was all Blue and Gold as Carter intercepted the tip and drove for a layup and a 72-70 lead. Macon followed with a rebound bucket with 3:45 showing on the clock and a Daxter Miles Jr. offensive put back pushed the Mountaineers’ lead to six, 76-70, with 2:56 remaining to be played.

Texas Tech would get no closer than four the rest of the period, sending a sellout crowd home with the win.

“The key for me is to just keep doing what I am doing,” added Macon, who came into the game averaging 4.9 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. “I’ve just got to keep myself in an attack mode.

“It’s just me. It’s all effort. It’s just something that you’ve got to get through. Most importantly, it will give the next team we play one more thing they are going to have to worry about.”

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