Three seasons ago, in Cleveland, Ohio, the Mountaineers were unceremoniously dumped from the tournament by a vastly superior Kentucky team that was better than West Virginia at every position.
The Mountaineers were never in it from start to finish.
But Thursday’s night’s West regional semifinal loss to top-seeded Gonzaga was far different. The two teams slugged it out to a first-half draw, and then after the Bulldogs took an eight-point lead with 14 minutes to go in the game, West Virginia fought back to tie it five minutes later, eventually taking the lead, 58-55, on Jevon Carter’s 3 with 1:47 remaining.