WVU wins three straight with 75-57 win over Morehead State

It was a rainy Tuesday in Morgantown, but a happy one for the Mountaineers who got their third straight win to start the season, over Morehead State University.

The last time WVU played the Eagles was in March Madness of the 2020-2021 season. It was in this game that head coach Bob Huggins secured his 900th win.

West Virginia entered the contest averaging nearly 80 points per game on over 50% shooting. The Mountaineers didn't quite reach these numbers tonight, but still came out with the 18 point victory.

Despite the win, the game didn't start smoothly for West Virginia, who turned the ball over 5 times in the first three minutes (they would finish the half with eight turnovers), shooting the ball just once in that span on a pull-up jumper from Eric Stevenson.

Things remained pretty quiet offensively for both teams until Tre Mitchell converted an and-one dunk, much to the delight of the home crowd. Mitchell led the team offensively over the duration of the half, scoring 15 of the team's 37 points on 6/8 shooting. With under 15 seconds remains in the half, he poked the ball loose and slammed it home at the other end, to close things out for the Mountaineers.

West Virginia shot 54% from the field en route to their nine point halftime lead, at a score of 37-28.

It took over two minutes for either team to make a field goal, but WVU struck first on a put-back dunk by Tre Mitchell, one of many electric plays from the second half.

To name a few others, Kedrian Johnson picked an Eagles' pocket and threw an outlet pass to Erik Stevenson, who tossed a lob to Mohammed Wague for the and-1 alley-oop lay.

Perhaps the most entertaining sequence of the entire game started with a steal by Tre Mitchell, who drove and threw down at the other end, causing a roar from the Mountaineer fans. Kedrian Johnson got a steal immediately after and took it down the court, missing a dunk, before getting the offensive rebound and finding Erik Stevenson for three, prompting MSU to call timeout.

The Mountaineers were just too much for the Eagles, and the game finished at a score of 75-57. Tre Mitchell led the scoring the WVU with 21, and Jimmy Bell led the team in rebounds with eight, also contributing 10 points on the night.

West Virginia will face Penn next on Friday, November 18th, before heading to Oregon for the PK85 tournament.