MORGANTOWN — By the end, Jesse Edwards was, well, Jesse Edwards again.
It couldn’t have come at a better time, as West Virginia fought back from a 10-point deficit over the final six minutes Wednesday to pull out a 69-65 victory against Cincinnati inside the Coliseum.
Edwards, at different points of the game, seemed to be willing his teammates from falling prey to yet another Big 12 opponent.
His runs to the rim were pure and crisp, as WVU players kept lobbing the ball up to the rim and Edwards kept throwing it down for another bucket.
“It’s actually pretty easy,” Edwards said after the game, just his second one back after returning from wrist surgery in December. “For my part, I just have to run the route. He’s the one doing the work.”
In saying that, Edwards put his arm around teammate Kerr Kriisa, who was the “he” Edwards was referring to.
The two finally got to put on their pick-and-roll show that had been talked about since the start of the season.
The result? Edwards finished with 25 points on 11 of 17 shooting and Kriisa had seven assists, most of them coming off a screen set by Edwards, reading how the Bearcats were playing it and then finding a way to get that ball to the rim.
“There’s a lot that goes into it,” said Kriisa, who chipped in 10 points. “I’m just trying to make the right play after right play after right play.
“Of course, I’m trying to look for Jesse off the pick-and-roll more, because he’s one of the best bigs in the country.”
Edwards, who still plays with his right wrist wrapped heavily in tape, was indeed one of the most impressive bigs on this night.
He scored his 1,000th career point — of course it came on a lob dunk — and then added 10 critical rebounds in a game when Cincinnati (14-7, 3-5 Big 12) dominated on the glass, 42-33.
That stat has usually meant doom for the Mountaineers (8-13, 3-5) this season, but not this night.
The reason was Edwards.
“He’s a terrific player and obviously they’re dynamic when he’s back in the game,” Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller said. “He got behind us numerous times and gave us a ton of problems in ball screens.”
The behind-the-scenes truth of the story was WVU head coach Josh Eilert came into the game not really knowing how long he could stick with Edwards.
There is still the question of his conditioning, as well as what will happen if the opponent were to keep fouling Edwards and sending him to the foul line, because he still feels discomfort in shooting free throws with his right hand.
That much showed, as Edwards went 3 of 9 from the foul line, the only nick in his armor in the game.
He more than made up for it, though.
“There were a couple of moments certainly,” Eilert said when he felt Edwards was back to his old ways. “It put a little twinkle in my eye to see that combination (of Edwards and Kriisa). It certainly makes things easier on me as a coach to have those threats.”
Even as the Bearcats seemed to have no answer for Edwards, they still leaned on their eight 3-pointers in the second half that led to a 60-50 lead with 6:29 remaining.
And then Edwards really turned it on.
First, he grabbed an offensive rebound and dunked it, then Edwards caught a lob from Quinn Slazinski and dunked that one, too.
He teamed up with Slazinski again on a pick-and-roll and scored a lay-up just before grabbing another offensive rebound and laying that back in to give WVU a 62-60 lead with 1:48 remaining.
WVU guard RaeQuan Battle, who has struggled the last two games, hit the shot that made it official, a 3-pointer in front of the WVU bench that gave the Mountaineers a 65-63 lead with 1:03 remaining.
“Down the stretch we were down 10,” Eilert said. “I think it was the first time all year that we’ve had a double-digit deficit and had enough resolve, enough resilience, and enough poise to make that comeback and get a victory.”
Cincinnati missed two 3-pointers in the final minutes and was forced to foul.
Kriisa hit two free throws and Edwards and Slazinski each hit one.
“We obviously needed that win,” Kriisa said. “I don’t think we played outstanding, but we played good enough to get a win. It was a pretty gritty game, so we gritted that one out.”
