LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The worst shooting game of the season came at the worst possible time for No. 1-ranked West Liberty Saturday afternoon as No. 3 Metro State overcame a 34-point explosion from national Player of the Year Alex Falk to escape with an 83-76 win in an Elite Eight national semifinal at Freedom Hall.

Coach Jim Crutchfield's Hilltoppers (34-2) came into the game as the best shooting team in the nation (52.4 percent) but every West Liberty player missed more shots than he made against the defensive-oriented Roadrunners (32-2).

Not only did Metro State hold West Liberty to a season-low 28-of-83 (33 percent) from the floor, the Roadrunners' 20-point edge from the charity stripe gave them just enough cushion to keep the Hilltoppers at bay. Metro hit 27-of-35 free throws on the day while West Liberty went 7-for-8 at the line.

Cedric Harris got WLU off to a quick start with a turnaround jumper from the foul line just 10 seconds after the opening tip but things went south in a hurry for the Black and Gold.

West Liberty made just one of its next 18 shots over an excruciating 11-minute span as Metro State opened up a stunning 20-4 lead midway through the opening half.

Facing their largest deficit of the season, the Hilltoppers finally knocked the lid off the basket with a Seger Bonifant 3-pointer at the 7:54 mark and began the long climb back.

Despite the shooting woes – WLU was just 10-of-35 (28 percent) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes – a strong defensive effort helped West Liberty cut the deficit under 10 points on a couple of occasions before entering the locker room on the short end of a 41-28 score at the half.

Falk, the senior All-American who rocketed past the 2,000-point career mark on Saturday, tried to put the Hilltoppers on his back and will them into next week's national championship game when play resumed.

Having been held to six points in the first 20 minutes, Falk spent the last 20 minutes of his West Liberty career slashing to the basket for an assortment of twisting layups, draining clutch 3-point shots and leading the Hilltoppers' high-pressure defense.

West Liberty had been held to a season-low 28 points in the first half. Falk scored 28 himself in the second half and the Hilltoppers came much closer to their regular-season pace with 48. It was almost enough.

The Black and Gold spent the entire second half cutting slowly into the deficit with a series of runs but could never quite get over the top.

The Hilltoppers pulled within a point for the first time, 64-63, when Falk stole Metro State's inbounds pass following a Shawn Dyer trey and fed a wide-open C.J. Hester for a layup with 5:43 on the clock.

The Roadrunners hit 5-of-6 free throws on their next three possessions for a 69-65 lead and West Liberty came up empty on back-to-back possessions before Falk cut the lead back to 69-68 with a conventional 3-point play at 3:02.

Metro State answered with a dagger of a 3-pointer from Brandon Jefferson for a 72-68 margin with 2:37 to play and the Hilltoppers' shooting problems returned with a vengeance.

West Liberty made just two of its last 11 shots from the floor – 1-of-9 from 3-point range – over the final two minutes as the Roadrunners put the game away at the charity stripe.

Falk finished with 34 points and 6 steals while going 7-of-8 from the foul line, the only Hilltopper to make it to the charity stripe. Harris, the only other double-figure scorer with 12 points, tied Tim Hausfeld for game-high honors with 5 assists. Hester's second-half layup was his only score of the game but he led the Hilltoppers with 11 rebounds. Chris Morrow finished with 9 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks despite missing nearly the entire first half with foul trouble.

All five Metro State starters hit double-figures. Jefferson, Nicholas Kay and Jonathan Morse all finished with 17 points and Demetrius Miller added 15 while 6-3 sophomore guard Mitch McCarron had 14 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.

TOURNAMENT NOTES

X The Hilltoppers hadn't shot under 40 percent from the floor all year and had made better than 50 percent of their shots in 10 of their last 11 games

X Falk ended his West Liberty career as the school's fourth 2,000-point scorer with 2,014 points

X His 764 points this year shattered the previous single-season record by nearly 50 points

X Falk also set school single-season records with 109 steals and an average of 3.03 steals per game

X The 13-point halftime deficit tied the Hilltoppers' largest of the season. Seton Hill took a 48-35 lead into the locker room on Jan. 10 before WLU rallied to an 81-72 win

X This is just the fourth time West Liberty has been held under 80 points in the past three seasons – and the first time the Hilltoppers didn't come out on top

X West Liberty had won its previous four NCAA Tournament games this month by an average score of 103-77