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PrintBUFFALO, N.Y.-- No. 2-seed West Virginia (29-6) was shaky at times but did enough to win, earning a 68-59 victory against No. 10-seed Missouri (23-11) in an East Region second-round NCAA tournament game this afternoon at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, N.Y.
De'Sean Butler paced the Mountaineers with 28 points, making 12 of his 13 free throws in a game that lacked offensive continuity on both sides throughout.
West Virginia advances to play No. 11-seed Washington (26-9) in the Sweet 16 round on Thursday in Syracuse, N.Y.
West Virginia hopped to an 8-0 lead, nullifying Missouri's early attempts at playing its defense-first 'Fastest 40 Minutes In Basketball' style as the Tigers couldn't make shots -- thus, they couldn't set up their press.
The Tigers crept back though, as West Virginia held a 15-8 lead with 14:12 remaining before halftime, and Missouri turned that into just a one-point disadvantage -- at 15-14 -- with 11:42 to go.
The game stayed locked tight from there into the half, with a 3-pointer from the wing by Missouri's Kim English with just under 3 minutes remaining, tying it at 25-25.
Even as West Virginia was cold from the field at the end of the first half -- their final seven points of the opening half came at the free throw line -- the Mountaineers were able to advance to a 30-25 lead at the intermission.
The Mountaineers then broke an almost 13-minute stretch without a field goal, upping their lead to 36-29 with 16:08 remaining in the second half.
West Virginia senior Butler hit three free throws with 11:28 left to stretch his team's lead to 50-41.
But Missouri wouldn't relent, cutting it to 56-53 on a 3-pointer from Zaire Taylor with 4:26 remaining.
From there, the Mountaineers fought off Missouri, doing just enough to keep them away and move ahead in the bracket.
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