12/20/1948

West Virginia Cagers Edge Arizona, 61 To 58

4 WILDCATS FOUL OUT; FACE DUQUESNE TONIGHT

MORGANTOWN, W. Va., Dec. 21. (AP)—Arizona's shell-shocked basketball, forces face a new foe in Duquesne at Pittsburgh tonight after losing a 61-58 thriller to West Virginia in one of the top games of all times here. Until the last two minutes in last night's ding-dong battle, nothing appeared certain. Then Little Joe Duff of the Mountaineers dropped in four straight free throws to give his mates a safe 61-56 lead.

In the final analysis, it was the consistent Mountaineer accuracy at the free throw line all the way that told the story. They cashed in on 27 of 39. foul tosses, while the Arizona squad could make good only 14 of 23. Carroll, Crum, Mann and Johnson of the visitors all were forced out on fouls.

From the floor, the visitors had a 22-17 edge in field goals with Leon Blevins getting 11 of them in a super exhibition. He tacked on six fouls to take individual scoring honors with 28 points. Center Eddie Beach led the winners with 23.

The victory was West Virginia's 48th at homel, and its fifth of the year against a lone setback at the hands of North Carolina State. Arizona suffered its second straight loss. Two quick tip-ins put West Virginia ahead to stay at 57-55 with slightly more than, two minutes left. Blevins added a foul, but then came Duff's four straight charity tosses that far overbalanced a last second fielder by Tony Morales of the Wildcats.

Lead At Half
Although West Virginia racked up six points before Blevins garnered the visitors' first fielder some four minutes after the game began, the Wildcats came back swiftly to hold 8-7 and 10-9 leads before a scoring spree by both sides that ended with Arizona still ahead 30-29 at half time.

The Wildcats stayed in the lead until midway in the final 20-minute period, with West Virginia finally forcing back at 39-38 on a goal by Beach. From then on, the crowd of some 5,000 was on its feet. The visitors were In front 53-51, and again at 55-53, before Beach broke loose for his two tip-ins.