Chucky Hepburn scores 17 in second half, 10 in OT to finish with 32 as Louisville beat West Virginia
NASSAU, Bahamas — Chucky Hepburn scored 17 in the second half and 10 in overtime to finish with a career-high 32 points as Louisville beat West Virginia 79-70 on Thursday in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals.
Louisville (5-1) plays the winner of the game between Oklahoma and No. 23 Arizona for the tournament championship on Friday. West Virginia (4-2) faces the loser in a third-place game.
Hepburn converted a three-point play with 2:30 remaining in overtime that gave Tucker DeVries his fifth foul. West Virginia turned it over and Kasean Pryor raced for a fast-break layup and a 72-67 lead.
West Virginia forced Louisville into a tough shot in the lane in the closing seconds and went the other way but Toby Okani’s pass to Sencire Harris went out of bounds with 33.7 left. Louisville went 5 of 6 at the line from there.
Hepburn was 8 of 12 from the field and 14 of 17 at the free-throw line. He was coming off a 10-assist, seven-steal performance — both career-highs — in a win over No. 14 Indiana on Wednesday.
Javon Small scored 26 points for West Virginia and Amani Hansberry added 19. Small played for over 40 minutes for a second straight game after he scored 31 in an 86-78 overtime victory over No. 3 Gonzaga on Wednesday.
At the end of regulation, Hepburn made 1 of 2 free throws with 31.9 seconds left to tie it at 61-all. Small dribbled down the clock and drew three defenders at the 3-point line before passing it to Hansberry, but the shot-clock buzzer sounded. Louisville’s long inbounds pass with 1.8 left was batted away.
