THE SHOTGUN THROWDOWN: West Virginia advances to Elite Eight

Welcome, By-Godders, to The Shotgun Throwdown, WVU’s best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor, and daily distractions.

ELITE EIGHT

The West Virginia men’s soccer team earned a 1-0 win over Tulsa in double-overtime on Saturday to advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

The Sweet Sixteen match at Tulsa was scoreless after 90 minutes of regulation play. During most of the match, the Mountaineers kept the pressure on the Golden Hurricane by outpacing it in shots, shots on goal, and corner kicks. In the second overtime period, sophomore midfielder Ryan Crooks and fifth-year senior Kevin Morris got the ball to freshman midfielder Otto Ollikainen and he scored the winning goal.

WVU will face Georgetown on the road in the Elite Eight match on Saturday. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ at noon ET.

TOURNAMENT BOUND

The West Virginia volleyball team is heading to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. WVU finished in third in the Big 12 Conference this season after going 19-9 overall and 8-8 in league play. The Mountaineers received at at-large bid and will play Illinois in a first-round matchup on Friday at 5:00 p.m. ET, in Lexington, Kentucky.

WEST VIRGINIA ROUNDUP

• West Virginia’s 2022 football schedule has been released. The slate is highlighted by road trips to Pitt and Virginia Tech.
• The West Virginia baseball team will be playing this spring’s Backyard Brawl against Pitt at PNC Park, the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• Former Mountaineer basketball player Darris Nichols will be returning to the WVU Coliseum this weekend, as he coaches Radford against West Virginia.

AROUND THE BIG 12

• #5 Oklahoma State and #9 Baylor will be facing off in the Big 12 Championship game this Saturday at noon ET. The game will be nationally televised on ABC.
• After nearly 50 years, the Texas men’s basketball team returned to the Gregory Gym on campus in Austin. The #7 Longhorns enjoyed their night in the venue with a 73-57 win over Sam Houston.
• The TCU men’s basketball team rolled past Austin Peay, 68-51, on Monday night.

AROUND THE NCAA

• Duke’s time as the #1 team in college basketball will be short lived after its upset loss to Ohio State, 71-66, on Tuesday night in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
• The #17 Connecticut men’s basketball team defeated Maryland-Eastern Shore on Tuesday, 72-63. UConn will host Grambling before its trip to West Virginia for the Big East-Big 12 Battle.

ODDS AND ENDS

• There are some veterans underachieving and some rookies that are exceeding their expectations. So, who are the NFL’s top quarterbacks?

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