WVU overcomes sloppy start, routs American 98-64
No. 24 West Virginia (1-1) rebounded from its season-opening loss to Texas A&M with a 98-64 win over American (0-2) inside the Coliseum Wednesday night for its first victory of the season.
The Mountaineers overcame a sloppy first half start to earn the win, shooting 12-of-32 from the field in the first 20 minutes. With the win, West Virginia is now 100-9 in home openers.
West Virginia elected to start Jevon Carter, Daxter Miles, Lamont West, Wesley Harris, Maciej Bender. The only change in the lineup from last game was Bender starting over forward Sagaba Konate.
In his first career start, Bender scored two points and grabbed one rebound.
Carter, West, Miles, James "Beetle" Bolden and Teddy Allen all finished in double figures for West Virginia. Carter and Miles led the way scoring 20 points each.
West also started out 9-for-9 from the free throw and didn’t take one shot during this span. Ten of West’s 12 points came from the free throw line.
The Mountaineers shot 51-percent from the field and outrebounded American 39-26. Press Virginia also forced 22 American turnovers while the Mountaineers gave up seven.
Both teams got off to a sloppy start with neither team scoring until the 17:44 mark when Miles hit his second free throw to give the Mountaineers an early lead.
American would grab an early 7-6 lead at the 14-minute mark in the first half as West Virginia started out shooting 0-of-5 from the field and just 2-of-11 at that 14-minute mark.
The Mountaineers would then go on a 6-0 run and take a 12-7 lead over the Eagles with 11:51 to go in the first half. A three-pointer from Bolden and three free throws from West would give West Virginia an 18-11 lead near the halfway point in the first half.
American would storm back though with five straight points from Larry Motuzis to narrow the score to 18-16 in favor West Virginia with just under 10 minutes left in the first half. That lead would grow to 20-16 at the 9:18 mark with a pair of free throws from West.
The Eagles then regained the lead with a layup from Jesse Little and another three-pointer from Motuzis to make it 21-20.
Both teams would trade baskets for the next two minutes, but West Virginia would end the first half on a 14-5 run and took a 44-33 lead into the locker room.
After one half, West Virginia had three different players in double figures. Allen and West each had 10 points and Carter had 11. The Mountaineers also finished the first half shooting 38-percent from the field and forced 10 turnovers to American’s three.
The Mountaineers continued to build on their momentum in the second half, opening with a 25-6 run and leading the Eagles 69-39 with 11:58 left to play.
West Virginia continued to dominant the Eagles in the second half on its way to a 98-64 victory.
The Mountaineers will face Morgan State Saturday at the Coliseum for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
