It turned around the game in a totally unexpected way. And for a couple of reasons.
When Mitchell elbowed the ISU kid (it was definitely deserving of the flagrant foul) and the kid flopped (I think basketball players and soccer players must take special acting lessons), the game turned dramatically in WVU's favor. At first it seemed obvious. I think ISU was up by 6 or 7, had all the momentum, the crowd was going nuts and WVU was looking for the exit door. I thought ISU would get the technical, two foul shots and the ball. Instead the refs took around 10 minutes to sort it out. ISU got their two free throws but WVU also got two (for the mini scuffle after the elbow). They missed their foul shots and we made ours. Instead of going down 8 or 9 and ISU gets the ball, we are down 4 or 5 and we get the ball. And then we hit our next shot to get right back in the game. A shocking turn of events at least for me and the ISU crowd. As importantly, the 10 minute lag allowed us to calm down and cooled down a red hot ISU team. I actually think it iced ISU a bit. It also helped take the crowd out of the game when we hit both free throws and then hit our next shot to get us back in the game. Just an amazing sequence.
When Mitchell elbowed the ISU kid (it was definitely deserving of the flagrant foul) and the kid flopped (I think basketball players and soccer players must take special acting lessons), the game turned dramatically in WVU's favor. At first it seemed obvious. I think ISU was up by 6 or 7, had all the momentum, the crowd was going nuts and WVU was looking for the exit door. I thought ISU would get the technical, two foul shots and the ball. Instead the refs took around 10 minutes to sort it out. ISU got their two free throws but WVU also got two (for the mini scuffle after the elbow). They missed their foul shots and we made ours. Instead of going down 8 or 9 and ISU gets the ball, we are down 4 or 5 and we get the ball. And then we hit our next shot to get right back in the game. A shocking turn of events at least for me and the ISU crowd. As importantly, the 10 minute lag allowed us to calm down and cooled down a red hot ISU team. I actually think it iced ISU a bit. It also helped take the crowd out of the game when we hit both free throws and then hit our next shot to get us back in the game. Just an amazing sequence.
