Advertisement
football Edit

West Virginia opens season with 79-71 win over South Dakota State

The West Virginia men's basketball team, led by coach Bob Huggins, opened the 2020-21 season with a win on Wednesday.
The West Virginia men's basketball team, led by coach Bob Huggins, opened the 2020-21 season with a win on Wednesday. (Ben Queen/USA Today)

Despite the beginning of the season being consumed in a cloud of confusion, West Virginia wasn’t rattled come Saturday’s opening tipoff.

Propelled by guard Miles McBride, who led the team in scoring with 23 points, West Virginia earned a victory on the first day of the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic, defeating the South Dakota State Jackrabbits 79-71.

McBride picked up 11 of his points in the first half, which helped keep West Virginia (1-0) in the game early. Oscar Tshiebwe and Gabe Osabuohien — two of the team’s top players a season ago — quickly found themselves in foul trouble.

Even without the pair of forwards, the Mountaineers were evenly matched with South Dakota State (0-1). During the first half, the teams had nearly identical offensive success. One place that differed however was in the rebounding game as the Jackrabbits held a 24-18 advantage over West Virginia.

The Mountaineers entered halftime with a 37-32 lead. Heading into the second half, they continued the intensity — and it paid off.

West Virginia’s strong offensive unit continued to score, leaving South Dakota State struggling to close the gap. Outside of the first minute of the second half, the Jackrabbits were unable to come closer than four points to the surging Mountaineers.

Despite four separate Jackrabbits scoring in double figures, the Mountaineers’ lead was too much for SDSU to overcome.

Second to only McBride in scoring for WVU was junior guard Sean McNeil, who ended the night with 16 points on 6-of-16 from the field, including 2-of-9 from the three point line.

Newcomers Kedrian Johnson and Isaiah Cottrell found their way onto the floor in their first games with the Mountaineers, with Cottrell adding two points. Freshmen Seny Ndiaye and Taj Thweatt did not play.

Junior forward Derek Culver hauled in 14 rebounds, which led the team. Gabe Osabuohien followed closely behind with eight.

With the win, the Mountaineers will face the winner of the matchup between VCU and Utah State on Thursday.


----------

• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.

SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.

• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel

• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan, @JaredSerre

•Like us on Facebook

Advertisement