West Virginia Rolls
December 18, 2004 08:59 PM | General
December 18, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia knows its not always going to be this easy. The Mountaineers have won games this year by 12, 15, 34, 15, 24 and now 29 points Saturday night with a 77-48 victory against undermanned James Madison in Morgantown.
"It's team-first all of the time and that's the making of teams that are usually special," said West Virginia coach John Beilein.
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| West Virginia was able to win comfortably desite only getting 3 points from leading scorer Tyrone Sally.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
But the road is going to get much tougher for West Virginia (7-0) with 4-4 New Hampshire coming up on Tuesday and then after Christmas facing nationally ranked George Washington and N.C. State in back-to-back games before beginning Big East play against Villanova on Wednesday Jan. 5.
In the meantime, the Mountaineers are off to their best start in 22 years by taking care of business against the Dukes after a week off for final examinations. JMU is on the tail end of a three-game road trip that also featured games against Virginia Tech and nationally ranked Georgia Tech and it showed.
James Madison (2-5) was able to make just two baskets in the game’s first nine minutes as West Virginia built a 25-4 lead. Three-point baskets by J.D. Collins and Patrick Beilein and back to back threes by Kevin Pittsnogle helped give the Mountaineers a 21-point lead.
The Mountaineers boosted their advantage to 24 and then 29 as the Dukes remained stuck on 10 points. James Madison had great difficulty handling WVU’s 1-3-1 defense, making six of 19 field goal attempts and committing 11 turnovers by halftime.
"Their turnovers created so many scoring opportunities so when we can can get people to turn it over like they did it's good for our defense," Beilein said.
It was more of the same in the second half with West Virginia building its lead to 32 and then 35 points.
Patrick Beilein came off the bench to lead WVU with 15 points on five of seven from three-point distance. Pittsnogle contributed 13 off the bench while Joe Herber and D’or Fischer added 11 points each. Eleven different players got into the scoring column for the Mountaineers including seldom-used Duriel Price with a career-high five points.
"That's what makes coaching so special," said Beilein. "Watching Juice Price score five points is worth every bit of any coaching award you ever get."
West Virginia’s top two scorers Tyrone Sally and Mike Gansey, coming into the game with averages of 16.7 and 12.0 points per game, managed just three and five points respectively.
"When you look at the stat sheet and see that Mike and Tyrone didn't have great shooting games you know we're more than just a couple of forwards that can put the ball in the basket," said Beilein. "I thought our bench in the first half just came in and did a great job. If we can continue to have that advantage that's good."
Forward David Cooper led James Madison with 10 points. He was the only Dukes player to reach double figures.
West Virginia made 27 of 57 field goals for 47.4 percent including 11 of 28 from three-point range for 39.3 percent.
James Madison made 10 of 22 second-half field goals to finish the game shooting 39 percent. JMU held a 34-33 rebounding edge but committed 16 turnovers.
"We were lucky to catch them on a bad night," said Beilein. "They're missing their top scorer."
The Mountaineers had five turnovers and Fischer blocked four shots.
The victory gives West Virginia’s its first seven-game winning streak since the 1996-97 season and its best season-opening start since winning the first eight games of the 1982-83 season. WVU is one of three remaining undefeated teams in the Big East along with Pitt and Boston College.
The Mountaineers return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 21, taking on New Hampshire at the WVU Coliseum. That contest will start at 7 pm.
Game Notes: West Virginia is now 6-0 against James Madison in games at the WVU Coliseum and 7-3 overall in series play ... the Mountaineers have now held its last four opponents to less than 60 points in each game ... West Virginia limited Radford to 44, St. Bonaventure to 55 and Coppin State to 47 ... center D'or Fischer now shows 147 career blocked shots and needs 10 to tie Marcus Goree for second all-time at WVU with 157 ... junior Patrick Beilein needs just six more three-point field goals to move past Seldon Jefferson in sixth place on the school three-point list with 133.
