The West Virginia Mountaineers overcame a double-digit first half deficit en route to an 84-76 win over the Clemson Tigers in the second round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament. The Tigers, coming off short rest, played like the fresher team for the first 18 minutes of the game and built up a 39-29 lead, but West Virginia went on an 11-1 run before the half to tie the game.
Clemson had four players get to double digits in scoring led by Andre Young's 22 points. Demontez Stitt, Jerai Grant, and Devin Booker had 16, 13, and 13 points respectively. The Tigers launched 21 3-pointers and shot just 23.8% from behind the arc.
West Virginia's Dalton Pepper, who has averaged 3.8 points per game this season, came up big down the stretch for the Mountaineers. With the Tigers threatening down just five points at 76-71 with 1:35 remaining, Pepper had three steals on three straight Clemson possessions and had four points off the turnovers. Kevin Jones had a game-high nine rebounds and Darryl Bryant had 19 points.
The Mountaineers advance to the third round to face the winner of the Kentucky and Princeton game on Saturday.
For more on this game, head to Shakin The Southland and The Smoking Musket.