West Virginia forward Gabe Osabuohien (3) celebrates after a score against Connecticut during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Morgantown, W.Va., Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Kathleen Batten)

MORGANTOWN — A fearful silence draped over the WVU Coliseum as Taz Sherman stood at the free throw line.

He had already made one shot to put the Mountaineers up two, and a third would continue battering the University of Connecticut’s hopes of bouncing back.

Sherman dribbled three times, looked at the basket and fired, tossing up an off-target shot that bounced off the rim and to the left of the basket. Gabe Osabuohien flew across the key to get a hand on it, recovering it to the dismay of the Huskies.

Osabuohien’s rebound came with 20 seconds remaining, putting the Mountaineers in the driver’s seat and ultimately propelling them to a 56-53 win over the No. 15 Huskies.

“That play right there is going to show up on the stat sheet as an offensive rebound,” Sherman said, “but it’s way bigger than that … without that offensive rebound –”

“– (we) could be in overtime right now,” Sean McNeil jumped in.

Part of the reason why the game didn’t go to overtime came down to free throw shooting. It’s also part of the reason why West Virginia (8-1) didn’t win by double-digits.

Across the game’s 40 minutes, the Mountaineers shot a lackluster 44% from the free throw line — the team’s worst performance of the season. Still, the group sank them when it mattered, nailing six in the final four minutes.

Among the biggest offenders was Osabuohien, who missed six attempts — worst on the team. Everybody who attempted at least one free throw also missed one.

“There’s only one way you fix them and that’s go in and work on them,” head coach Bob Huggins said. “I think, at least most of them will. They’ve got the greatest facilities in America, that place is open 24/7 for them. And there’s six baskets in there.”

Luckily for the Mountaineers, McNeil, who missed Saturday’s game against Radford with a lower back injury, returned to the lineup. He knocked down West Virginia’s first two shots Thursday night and let his play do the talking, saying simply, “I’m back.”

He sank the team’s final three free throws and would end the night with 16 points, but it wasn’t just the volume of shots the senior guard made that had an impact. His presence provided stability, while his ability to come through when the Mountaineers needed to gain ground on the Huskies (8-2), take back the lead or just inject energy into the WVU Coliseum was a key factor throughout the game.

“We knew what type of game it was going to be,” Sherman said. “This really isn’t like a big rivalry game, but in a way it almost felt like that. We’re never going to play each other until probably, maybe the tournament or whatever, so when you see a team like this every once in a while you know you’ve just gotta handle business.”

Sherman ended the night with a team-high 23 points, leading West Virginia in scoring for the ninth consecutive game. McNeil was the only other Mountaineer to finish in double digits.

The rebound that effectively sealed the game for West Virginia was Osabuohien’s seventh, which ranked first on the team. Sherman finished shortly behind with six.

The Mountaineers return to the hardwood on Sunday, hosting Kent State at 4 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN 2.