West Virginia (1-0) opened the season in style by beating Akron (1-1) by the score of 94-84 inside the Coliseum.

The Mountaineers looked like a rejuvenated ball club from last season's disappointing 15-21 finish by both valuing the basketball and looking decisive on both ends of the floor. With a deep rotation and options to choose from West Virginia was able to seize momentum early and hold off the Zips in the second half.

It wasn’t without its hiccups but the Mountaineers were able to close out a game defined by runs down the stretch.

West Virginia shot 48-percent from the floor and four Mountaineers were in double figures led by senior guard Jermaine Haley and sophomore center Derek Culver with 16 points each.

Akron jumped out to an early 8-2 lead with a pair of three-pointers fueling the effort. The Mountaineers started sluggish opening the game 2-7 from the floor entering the first media timeout with 15:56 left in the half.

Then a 9-0 run, on the back of the second and third three-pointer from Matthews on the night, gave the home-standing Mountaineers a 14-11 edge with 14:31 left in the half.

Chase Harler would connect on a three-ball to push the West Virginia lead to 26-19 as both teams continued to shoot it well from beyond the arc.

Freshman guard Deuce McBride provided a spark off the bench demonstrating the ability to score the ball off the bounce at the lead was 30-24 at the 7:56 mark of the first half as the Zips continued to hang around on the back of the three-pointer with 6 of their 8 made baskets from distance.

The lead was pushed out to 37-26 at the 5:17 mark as the Mountaineers used a 7-0 run which included a nifty finish from Knapper through contact to seize momentum from the visitors. West Virginia was able to keep Akron at a distance for the remainder of the first half seizing a 45-31 lead with 1:03 left in the half and was able to take that 14-point lead into the locker room.

Akron was able to cut the deficit to 48-40 over the first 1:30 of the second half but consecutive buckets pushed the lead back to a dozen. The Zips could cut that in half over the next three minutes, but West Virginia would respond to to push things back out to 13 points. at the 13:45 mark of the half.

That lead would swell to 17 points just a minute later as the Mountaineers started to frustrate Akron on both ends of the floor. Still, the Zips weren't done yet as they again trimmed the lead down back down to 6 with over 10 minutes left in the contest.

That's when the game of runs would continue with West Virginia putting the lead back out to 13-points at 76-63.

From there, the Mountaineers would be able to salt the game away down the stretch keeping Akron just out of striking distance although they did make things interesting cutting it to six down the stretch before ending it at the foul line.

The Mountaineers started guard Jordan McCabe, guard Jermaine Haley, forward Emmitt Matthews, big Oscar Tshiebwe and big Derek Culver against the Zips.

West Virginia will next hit the road Nov. 15 for the latest edition of the Backyard Brawl against Pittsburgh inside the Petersen Event Center with tip-off set for 7 p.m.

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