Eagles Clipped
December 01, 2007 03:50 PM | General
December 1, 2007
BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Junior Joe Alexander’s 19-point, 10-rebound double-double led West Virginia to a 70-53 victory over Winthrop Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
Alexander got his game-high 19 points despite spending a good portion of the first half on the bench with two fouls. Junior Alex Ruoff and sophomore Da’Sean Butler also were sidelined in the first half with a pair of fouls. The Mountaineers were whistled for 21 fouls in the contest.
Darris Nichols contributed 12 points and Joe Mazulla came off the bench to contribute a season-high 10 for West Virginia (5-1). The Mountaineers had a 40-34 rebounding advantage and shot 41.1 percent from the floor.
WVU played outstanding defense in the first half, holding the Eagles to 19 percent shooting and just four field goals in the first half. Despite the poor shooting, Winthrop trailed by just eight, 32-24 at halftime, largely because they got to the foul line, converting 15 of 19 charity shots.
“We beat a good team and didn’t shoot it very well,” West Virginia Coach Bob Huggins said. "We just didn’t shoot it as well as we normally do but we won because we defended well and we rebounded the ball.”
The Eagles used a series of inside baskets to get within single digits at 50-41 with 10 minutes left before the Mountaineers scored nine of the next 12 points for a 59-44 edge with five minutes left.
Charles Corbin scored 13 and Antwon Harris came off the bench to add 11 for Winthrop (4-3)
West Virginia returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 5, against the Auburn Tigers in Birmingham, Ala. as part of the Pizza Hut BIG EAST/SEC Invitational. Tip-off is set for 9:30 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN 2.
