Dukes Deleted
December 10, 2005 02:41 PM | General
December 10, 2005
GAME INFO: BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY
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BEILEIN POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – In recent years West Virginia-Duquesne basketball games have been hard-fought, down-to-the-wire affairs. Not today. The Mountaineers led from the opening tip in depositing the Dukes 86-66 Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.
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| West Virginia guard JD Collins drives to the basket during West Virginia's 86-66 victory over Duquesne at the WVU Coliseum on Saturday.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
West Virginia (6-3) has recalibrated itself nicely of late winning its third straight game by 20 points or more. The two-man game of Kevin Pittsnogle and Mike Gansey once again did most of the damage, combining for 41 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks.
Pittsnogle led all scorers with 21 points and also pulled down a game-high 8 rebounds. Gansey scored 20, grabbed 7 boards and made 8 of 13 field-goal attempts including 3 of 4 from 3.
“Mike and Kevin are playing as well as anyone in the country right now,” said West Virginia coach John Beilein.
“His release is so quick,” said Duquesne coach Danny Nee of Pittsnogle. “I think it’s really hard for some people to realize how fast it is for a 6-10, 7-0 guy.”
Joe Herber chipped in with 12 points and added 6 assists, while Patrick Beilein came off the bench to score 11 and hand out 4 assists.
The Mountaineers assisted on 22 of their 30 baskets, and also were tough on the boards being out-rebounded by only four. Duquesne (1-5) committed 19 turnovers and shot 43.4 percent from the floor for the game.
“(Duquesne) only had eight offensive rebounds and some of those came down the stretch,” said Beilein.
Leading 16-12 at the 13:26 mark, West Virginia went on a 13-2 run to pull ahead 29-14. Pittsnogle got the run going with a short jumper in the paint, Beilein hit a 3 from the top of the key, Darris Nichols scored on a driving lay up and another 3 by Beilein gave the Mountaineers a 26-12 lead. Frank Young’s third 3 of the first-half gave WVU a 15-point advantage with 8:21 remaining.
“There were a couple of times when they had chances to narrow the margin a little bit and we would respond with a defensive stop and usually a 3 at the other end,” said Beilein. “There were very few things that I could be upset with the whole first half.”
West Virginia got its lead to 21 on a Mike Gansey driving lay up with 5:14 to go, and led by 15 at halftime after Duquesne’s Aaron Jackson made a long 3 ahead of the buzzer.
West Virginia once again got its lead back to 20 on a Gansey drive and led by 32 with 10:59 left before Beilein began to empty his bench.
West Virginia made 30 of 65 from the field for 46.2 percent including 13 of 31 from 3 for 41.9 percent. The majority of West Virginia’s 3s came in the first half, hitting 9. It’s the second game in a row West Virginia has hit 13 3s in a game.
“They were a scrappy bunch and they stuck with us for a while but I was glad we were able to get some separation and continue to get more time for the other guys,” Beilein said.
DeVario Hudson led Duquesne with 16 points and 6 rebounds. Jackson came off the bench to contribute 12. Duquesne’s leading scorer Bryant McAllister finished the game with 11 points, or seven below his season’s average.
“I thought we did a great job on McAllister because he’s a great player,” said Beilein.
“Beilein throws a couple of tweaks into their 1-3-1 and it’s hard to simulate that in practice,” said Nee. “You really need a good couple of days of preparation.”
Duquesne was coming off an emotional 11-point loss to city rival Pitt on Wednesday night.
The Mountaineers now have 12 days off for final exams before West Virginia returns to the floor against nationally ranked Oklahoma in Oklahoma City on Dec. 22. That game will be televised on ESPN2.
“It’s a compliment to us to be asked to play in Oklahoma in this great tournament,” said Beilein. “It’s important that we went in there feeling good and really put putting something on the plate as far as national attention.”
West Virginia’s 20-point win against the Dukes was its first since recording a 90-65 (25-point) victory in 1997. The Mountaineers are now 45-36 all-time against Duquesne. And senior guard Patrick Beilein is now four 3s shy of tying Chris Leonard’s WVU record of 200 set in 1992.
