WVU Downs Cleveland State
December 18, 2010 04:43 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It wasn’t easy, but West Virginia was able to hold off Cleveland State 74-63 Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
“They’re a really good team,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “They’re 20 in the RPI. Instead of playing people that you know you’re going to win playing people like them ... they are going to help you down the road with the RPI and NCAA tournament selection.”
The Vikings, which lost to West Virginia on a buzzer beater last year in Cleveland, came into the game undefeated and was as good as advertised. Cleveland State led 22-14 with 9:39 left in the first half and had a 28-27 lead until a free throw by Cam Thoroughman tied the game with 2:51 left in the half.
Two mini-runs, one at the end of the first half when West Virginia outscored Cleveland State 8-4 to end the first half, and a quick 4-0 run to begin the second half, built the Mountaineers’ lead to eight, 40-32.
A Casey Mitchell free throw made it a nine point lead, 47-38, but Cleveland State battled back and eventually tied the game 55-all on a Norris Cole 3.
Mitchell answered with a 3 – his third – and Jones nailed another 3 from the wing with the shot clock winding down to give West Virginia a six point lead with 6:45 remaining in the game. A minute later, Jones rebounded his own miss and while scoring was fouled by Josh McCoy. His free throw gave the Mountaineers a nine point lead.
West Virginia’s biggest lead was 13 with 38 second remaining.
“In the second half I thought we really shared the ball,” said Huggins. “We’ve got to do that to be a good team.”
There were seven ties and nine lead changes in the game.
Sophomore center Deniz Kilicli started the game but played only seven minutes and finished with 4 points and zero rebounds. Sophomore Danny Jennings did not play.
“We didn’t get out of our bigs really what we wanted to get out of them,” said Huggins. “Deniz had three good days of practice. He’s trying we’re just going to have to keep working with him and get him better because we’re really going to need him on the floor some.”
Jones had a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double to lead West Virginia, now 8-2. Casey Mitchell snapped his two-game scoring slump by contributing 15, while John Flowers added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Flowers has been playing very well recently, scoring 45 points, grabbing 39 rebounds and blocking 11 shots in his last four games.
“John wants to win,” said Huggins. “I think John has taken it very personally. He’s a senior now and he’s been fortunate to play with some really good players and he knows that this is it. There is no tomorrow. He is without question our most active guy and our most athletic guy.”
Senior Cam Thoroughman scored 9 points, handed out seven assists and grabbed six rebounds, Joe Mazzulla added 8 points and three assists and Jonnie West contributed 5 points and a pair of rebounds from West Virginia’s bench. Overall, the bench accounted for 25 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
Cole scored a game-high 19 points and handed out eight assists for Cleveland State, now 12-1. Aaron Pogue added 14 points and six rebounds before fouling out with 1:09 left in the game.
“There were some positive things to take out of this,” said Huggins. “When we got the older guys back in I thought defensively we were pretty good.”
West Virginia has an exhibition game against Walsh next Tuesday night before opening Big East play on Wednesday, Dec. 29 against St. John’s at the WVU Coliseum.
“They’re a really good team,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “They’re 20 in the RPI. Instead of playing people that you know you’re going to win playing people like them ... they are going to help you down the road with the RPI and NCAA tournament selection.”
The Vikings, which lost to West Virginia on a buzzer beater last year in Cleveland, came into the game undefeated and was as good as advertised. Cleveland State led 22-14 with 9:39 left in the first half and had a 28-27 lead until a free throw by Cam Thoroughman tied the game with 2:51 left in the half.
Two mini-runs, one at the end of the first half when West Virginia outscored Cleveland State 8-4 to end the first half, and a quick 4-0 run to begin the second half, built the Mountaineers’ lead to eight, 40-32.
A Casey Mitchell free throw made it a nine point lead, 47-38, but Cleveland State battled back and eventually tied the game 55-all on a Norris Cole 3.
Mitchell answered with a 3 – his third – and Jones nailed another 3 from the wing with the shot clock winding down to give West Virginia a six point lead with 6:45 remaining in the game. A minute later, Jones rebounded his own miss and while scoring was fouled by Josh McCoy. His free throw gave the Mountaineers a nine point lead.
West Virginia’s biggest lead was 13 with 38 second remaining.
“In the second half I thought we really shared the ball,” said Huggins. “We’ve got to do that to be a good team.”
There were seven ties and nine lead changes in the game.
Sophomore center Deniz Kilicli started the game but played only seven minutes and finished with 4 points and zero rebounds. Sophomore Danny Jennings did not play.
“We didn’t get out of our bigs really what we wanted to get out of them,” said Huggins. “Deniz had three good days of practice. He’s trying we’re just going to have to keep working with him and get him better because we’re really going to need him on the floor some.”
Jones had a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double to lead West Virginia, now 8-2. Casey Mitchell snapped his two-game scoring slump by contributing 15, while John Flowers added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Flowers has been playing very well recently, scoring 45 points, grabbing 39 rebounds and blocking 11 shots in his last four games.
“John wants to win,” said Huggins. “I think John has taken it very personally. He’s a senior now and he’s been fortunate to play with some really good players and he knows that this is it. There is no tomorrow. He is without question our most active guy and our most athletic guy.”
Senior Cam Thoroughman scored 9 points, handed out seven assists and grabbed six rebounds, Joe Mazzulla added 8 points and three assists and Jonnie West contributed 5 points and a pair of rebounds from West Virginia’s bench. Overall, the bench accounted for 25 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
Cole scored a game-high 19 points and handed out eight assists for Cleveland State, now 12-1. Aaron Pogue added 14 points and six rebounds before fouling out with 1:09 left in the game.
“There were some positive things to take out of this,” said Huggins. “When we got the older guys back in I thought defensively we were pretty good.”
West Virginia has an exhibition game against Walsh next Tuesday night before opening Big East play on Wednesday, Dec. 29 against St. John’s at the WVU Coliseum.
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