WVU climbs Mount St. Mary's 87-59
West Virginia did what it needed to do in the home opener beating Mount St. Mary’s 87-59 Friday night inside the Coliseum.
The Mountaineers were led in scoring by senior forward Nathan Adrian with 13 points and freshman forward Sagaba Konate in his West Virginia debut with 11 points and six rebounds. Junior guard Jevon Carter was also in double figures with ten points.
Meanwhile junior guard Tarik Phillip (9), senior forward Brandon Watkins (9 points and 8 rebounds), sophomore forward Esa Ahmad (8), senior guard Teyvon Myers (8) and redshirt freshman forward Lamont West (7 points and 7 rebounds) all chipped into the scoring totals for West Virginia.
Overall, the home team shot 48-percent from the field while turning 21 turnovers into 25 points but the Mountaineers also turned the ball over 13 times in the contest. West Virginia out rebounded Mount St. Mary's 45-32.
West Virginia used the starting five of Elijah Macon, Ahmad, Adrian, Phillip and Carter because junior guard Daxter Miles did not play due to illness.
The Mountaineers opened the game scoring the first seven points of the game only 2:20 into it as Ahmad would open the scoring and then Adrian would connect on his first three pointer of the season. The Mountaineers stretched the lead to 17-6 at the 12:11 mark as West Virginia had hit 7-14 field goal attempts while holding Mount St. Mary’s to 22-percent shooting from the field
West Virginia would struggle to find rhythm for much of the first half as the Mountaineers failed to connect from the outside and turned the basketball over, but maintained a 27-15 lead at the 5:35 mark as Mount St. Mary’s continued to struggle to find the mark with their shooting as well.
But a late run in the first half would push the score out and keep the lead comfortable for the home-standing Mountaineers.
The Mountaineers used 12 turnovers to take a 43-24 lead into halftime shooting 17-31 from the floor. However, West Virginia had its own issues as well turning the ball over nine times. Mount St. Mary’s finished the first half shooting only 25-percent from the floor and 4-15 from three-point range.
Ahmad led scoring with eight points at the break, while both Adrian and Carter had seven a piece in their starting roles.
During that first half, head coach Bob Huggins was able to use almost his entire bench and held a 17-6 advantage in bench scoring. Senior forward Watkins turned eight minutes into seven points and five rebounds, while senior guard Myers chipped in with six points off the bench.
In the second half, the Mountaineers were able to keep Mount St. Mary's at arm's length and were able to pull away in a game that continued to lack any real rhythm due to the fouls and miscues on both ends.
West Virginia will host Mississippi Valley State Monday night at 7 p.m.