Nov 26, 2021 3 min read

Taz Sherman scored a career-high 28 points to lead West Virginia to an 80-77 comeback victory over Eastern Kentucky on Friday night.

Malik Curry scored 10 of his 16 points over the final seven minutes for the Mountaineers (5-1).

Jannson Williams led Eastern Kentucky (5-2) with 22 points. Braxton Beverly and Michael Moreno scored 12 apiece.

West Virginia trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half but clawed back with scrappy defense and solid shooting after halftime. The Mountaineers grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and forced 17 turnovers.

Sherman hit a jumper to put the Mountaineers ahead to stay with 3:26 remaining. Sherman was fouled on the play and missed the subsequent free throw, but West Virginia got the ball back off the rebound. Curry’s jumper with the shot clock winding down put the Mountaineers ahead 75-71.

Eastern Kentucky’s Devontae Blanton missed a potential tying 3-pointer with a minute left. Curry responded with a driving layup and Sherman sank a free throw for a two-possession lead. The Colonels’ Russhard Cruickshank hit a 3-pointer at the final buzzer.

Eastern Kentucky made four 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the game and jumped ahead 12-2. West Virginia clawed back with a 13-3 run to briefly take a 36-35 lead, but the Colonels shot 57% from the floor in the first half and led 41-38 at halftime.

LSU 68, Penn State 63, OT: Tari Eason came off the bench to score 20 points and LSU edged Penn State 68-63 in overtime in the second round of the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Fla.

The underdog Nittany Lions took a 29-26 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Penn State held a 56-55 lead in the final minutes after getting seven unanswered points by Sam Sessoms. But LSU’s Xavier Pinson made a three-pointer on the next possession to put the Tigers ahead 58-56. With 0.6 seconds left in regulation, Seth Lunday’s putback sent the game to overtime

LSU held Penn State to five points in the overtime period.

Penn State’s leading scorer was Jalen Pickett with 14 points. Sessoms had 13 points and Myles Dread added 11.

No. 6 Baylor 75, Michigan State 58: James Akinjo scored 15 points and No. 6 Baylor blew the game open after halftime to beat Michigan State 75-58 for the Battle 4 Atlantis championship.

The reigning national champions led just 38-36 at the break. But they began to take control in the opening minutes of the second half, throwing some full-court defensive looks at the Spartans and capitalizing on their mistakes.

The Bears used an 8-0 run to stretch out to a double-digit lead, ending when Akinjo corralled a thrown-away inbounds pass against pressure by Tyson Walker and buried a 3-pointer to make it 55-42 with 13:57 left.

Baylor (7-0) never let Michigan State within single digits again, improving to 6-0 all-time at Atlantis going back to its 2016 championship run.