After a slow start, it was a wild close to the first half for the Mountaineers. They led 10-6 with 11:08 to play before closing the half on a 36-13 run.
That would establish a 27-point halftime lead, as the Mountaineers eventually won, improving to 2-0 in Big 12 play.
"I think it was really was just sticking to what we know to do. Just kept trusting our offense and everybody and know what everybody can do. The main thing that kept us going was our defense. Our defense led to offense, and it kept just getting us going," WVU's Jonathan Powell said.
Powell knocked down three triples in the first half, including two, as he and Javon Small guided WVU to a 12-0 run in less than two minutes as the Mountaineers opened up a 22-6 lead.
"Defense leading to offense. I feel like we made some shots, especially in the first half we made a lot of shots, and then we also got a lot of stops. Us creating stops gave us an advantage to get a bucket," Small said.
Small scored 18 points in the first half as he faced off against his former team on Saturday. Small said there was no extra motivation as it was just another game for the veteran point guard.
"Another game, another opponent. That's about it," Small said.
While the shots started falling for the Mountaineers, the intensity on defense was also cranked up. The Mountaineers held the Cowboys to just 25 percent from the field, making 2 of their 12 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.
"First half, we got stops, we got runs, we hit shots, and we bring that excitement to the fans, and they get up, and we get up, and it's all love at the end of the day," WVU's Sencire Harris said.
The first half was also very kind to Harris, who made his first 3-pointer of the season. Harris followed the first makeup with a second make, breaking what was an 0-for-28 stretch for him to start the season.
"You can ask these guys over here, in practice, I'm making them in practice. Come game time, I was struggling. Just being able to find back that groove and see one go in, I'm more relaxed," Harris said.
West Virginia might have gotten a little relaxed to start the second half, but that didn't matter. Their lead was cut to as few as 13, but a late run helped seal the 19-point win for West Virginia.
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