CHARLESTON, W.Va. — After running off the final seven points late Friday to escape with a 72-69 win against DuBois Dream, Best Virginia positioned itself with a third second-round matchup in The Basketball Tournament (TBT) against Herd That over the last four years.
WVU’s alumni-based team and Marshall’s alumni-based team are set to battle at 5 p.m. Sunday from inside the Charleston Coliseum in a matchup airing nationally on FS1.
“It’s the next game and just so happens to be against them,” Best Virginia head coach Jarrod West said. “They’re going to be prepared and we’re going to be prepared. Whoever executes the best, rebounds and takes care of the ball is probably going to win. Obviously, we’re excited. Hopefully we get a big-time crowd here with two co-hosts in the region. We have to get rested up and ready to go.”
Prior to Best Virginia’s three-point opening-round win, Herd That defeated Sikh Warriors 84-71 to advance.
Herd That trailed by two points through one quarter before upping its defensive intensity and forcing 11 of Sikh Warrior’s 16 turnovers in the second and third periods. During that time, Herd That outscored Sikh Warriors 43-32 to take control, before doing enough in the fourth quarter and Elam Ending to win by double figures.
“I don’t think they gave it to us. Our guys took it,” Herd That head coach Ot Elmore said. “It’s hard to play against guys like this.”
Elmore had eight players with which to work with in the rotation Friday, and with the Sacramento Kings defeating the Toronto Raptors on Saturday for a spot in Sunday’s NBA Summer League Championship, Herd That will again be without Jon Elmore and Taevion Kinsey.
The top two career scoring leaders at Marshall are both on the Kings roster, and had Sacramento lost Saturday, there was a chance they’d play in the second round of TBT. Instead, Herd That will need a win and a spot in Tuesday’s regional championship to have both play in the event this year.
Ot Elmore felt HT grew more comfortable offensively Friday as the contest wore on, with Jacorey Williams (29 points, 10 rebounds) and JP Tokoto (17 points, 7 assists) doing the most damage.
“These guys are used to playing with Jon,” coach Elmore said. “We scored 36 in the first and 48 in the second half, and a lot of that was JP and Jacorey. Jacorey handled the ball a lot for us and guys filled roles better.”
A 6-foot-9 forward, Williams prides himself on physical play in the paint and capitalized on exactly that to do damage against Sikh Warriors.
“We know these guys very well. I know them very well,” West said. “We’ll get prepared for if they’re there and if they’re not. Jacorey is a handful.”
West’s son, guard Jarrod West, is the all-time steals leader at Marshall and a past Herd That player who opted to play for his dad instead this summer. The elder Jarrod West was Best Virginia’s first head coach in 2019 and a four-year impact guard for the Mountaineers from 1995-98.
“I’m used to playing with them and competing against them within our own team, so playing against them and really trying to beat them will be very unique and different,” said the younger West. “At the end of the day, it’s all love between us. They’re going to compete and we’re going to compete. It will be fun and good for the Civic Center and for TBT to get all of us in one gym in a competitive basketball game with high stakes.”
Another new addition to Best Virginia led the team in scoring Friday as 6-4 guard James Reese made four threes in the opening half and poured in 21 points to pace the squad offensively.
“He’s an excellent two-way player,” coach West said of Reese, who played collegiately at Buffalo, North Texas and South Carolina. “I know he’s a defensive-minded player. Jarrod played him at Marshall. We always loved him and when the opportunity presented itself for him to be on this team, I told the powers that be, yeah. He said it perfect — his DNA would fit in well at WVU. He got it going early and hopefully he gets going early on Sunday. Somebody has to get it going early.”
Other BV key contributors Friday were Tre Mitchell (13 points), Kedrian Johnson (10 points) and Toby Okani, who finished with nine points and 11 rebounds and made two free throws to secure the result after DuBois Dream trailed 64-60 to start the Elam Ending and then led 69-65.
While playing quality defense for much of its opening-round win, Best Virginia struggled offensively in the late stages, which led to a 62-45 advantage through three quarters turning into needing consecutive defensive stops to avoid elimination.
“It was a grind, but to the credit of our team, they stepped up when adversity hit in the Elam,” coach West said.
Best Virginia defeated Herd That in a 2022 TBT contest in Charleston, before Herd That evened the all-time series the following year in Wheeling.
The winner of Sunday’s matchup will play again Tuesday night in the regional championship against the winner of top seed Elite Nation and Court Street Kings, which meet at 3 p.m. Sunday.