West Virginia 77, Akron 56
November 28, 2011 09:54 PM | General
MORGANTOWN. W.Va. – Jabarie Hinds scored 19 points and Kevin Jones added an 18-point, 12-rebound double-double to lead West Virginia to a 77-56 victory over Akron Monday night at the WVU Coliseum.
West Virginia (4-1) used a 15-2 run over the remaining 3:43 of the first half to turn a 10-point lead into a 43-20 halftime advantage. Hinds keyed the run with six straight points and then added two more baskets to score 10 of his 19 points during that span. This came right after a four-minute cold stretch when the Mountaineers couldn’t buy a basket.
“I thought Jabarie and Gary Browne together were very, very good, particularly in the run that we made in the second part of the first half,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “We play pretty good, then we kind of let down, and then we play pretty good again and we let down. We’ve got to shorten those gaps when we kind of fall asleep and don’t do what we’re supposed to do.”
There were three technical fouls called in the first half, two on Akron, as the game began to unravel for the Zips, now 3-3.
West Virginia’s biggest lead was 28, 74-46, with 3:56 remaining in the game.
For Jones, it was his fourth double-double in five games this year and the 16th of his career. Deniz Kilicli and Truck Bryant added 11 points for the Mountaineers.
Akron, playing without starting guard Alex Abreu and backup Demetrius Treadwell, committed 20 turnovers, 11 of those coming off of Mountaineer steals.
“We kept them out of transition and we got transition, which really helps us considerably,” said Huggins.
Seven-foot center Zeke Marshall finished with 10 points, three rebounds and two blocks before fouling out with 8:01 to go.
Forward Nick Harney came off the bench to score 12 points to lead the Zips. Nitro native Brett McClanahan returned to the Mountain State to score 5 points and grab four rebounds.
“That’s a good basketball team and they’re obviously a very well-coached team and it helps when the big fella gets into foul trouble, but I thought Deniz did a good job on him when he was in there,” said Huggins.
West Virginia shot 47.6 percent from the floor, including 51.9 percent in the second half. The Mountaineers once again left points at the free throw line, hitting only 14 of 27 for the game after making just 4 of their first 11. That’s obviously something that needs cleaning up.
“For the last two weeks they have to make a hundred before they can leave, and it’s charted, so I know what percentage they’re shooting,” said Huggins. “I don’t understand it.”
Akron, which shot 35.7 percent for the game, was just 2 of 13 from 3. Akron came into the game shooting better than 50 percent as a team.
“We took a lot of their inside stuff away,” said Huggins. “We wanted to push them out, which I thought our guards did a pretty good job of pushing them out. We didn’t let them throw the ball into the high post until the second half; we got kind of lazy.”
West Virginia has now won 45 of its last 49 games when holding its opponents to 69 points or less. The Mountaineers will take on Mississippi State Saturday night in Starkville as part of the Big East-SEC Challenge.
So, is this young West Virginia squad ready for the 21st-ranked team in the country in their gym?
“We’re not going to know unless we do it,” said Huggins. “We’re going to be alright. We get young and dumb and we’ve got to get away from that. We’re going to be young but we’ve got to get away from the dumb.”
Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPNU.
West Virginia (4-1) used a 15-2 run over the remaining 3:43 of the first half to turn a 10-point lead into a 43-20 halftime advantage. Hinds keyed the run with six straight points and then added two more baskets to score 10 of his 19 points during that span. This came right after a four-minute cold stretch when the Mountaineers couldn’t buy a basket.
“I thought Jabarie and Gary Browne together were very, very good, particularly in the run that we made in the second part of the first half,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “We play pretty good, then we kind of let down, and then we play pretty good again and we let down. We’ve got to shorten those gaps when we kind of fall asleep and don’t do what we’re supposed to do.”
There were three technical fouls called in the first half, two on Akron, as the game began to unravel for the Zips, now 3-3.
West Virginia’s biggest lead was 28, 74-46, with 3:56 remaining in the game.
For Jones, it was his fourth double-double in five games this year and the 16th of his career. Deniz Kilicli and Truck Bryant added 11 points for the Mountaineers.
Akron, playing without starting guard Alex Abreu and backup Demetrius Treadwell, committed 20 turnovers, 11 of those coming off of Mountaineer steals.
“We kept them out of transition and we got transition, which really helps us considerably,” said Huggins.
Seven-foot center Zeke Marshall finished with 10 points, three rebounds and two blocks before fouling out with 8:01 to go.
Forward Nick Harney came off the bench to score 12 points to lead the Zips. Nitro native Brett McClanahan returned to the Mountain State to score 5 points and grab four rebounds.
“That’s a good basketball team and they’re obviously a very well-coached team and it helps when the big fella gets into foul trouble, but I thought Deniz did a good job on him when he was in there,” said Huggins.
West Virginia shot 47.6 percent from the floor, including 51.9 percent in the second half. The Mountaineers once again left points at the free throw line, hitting only 14 of 27 for the game after making just 4 of their first 11. That’s obviously something that needs cleaning up.
“For the last two weeks they have to make a hundred before they can leave, and it’s charted, so I know what percentage they’re shooting,” said Huggins. “I don’t understand it.”
Akron, which shot 35.7 percent for the game, was just 2 of 13 from 3. Akron came into the game shooting better than 50 percent as a team.
“We took a lot of their inside stuff away,” said Huggins. “We wanted to push them out, which I thought our guards did a pretty good job of pushing them out. We didn’t let them throw the ball into the high post until the second half; we got kind of lazy.”
West Virginia has now won 45 of its last 49 games when holding its opponents to 69 points or less. The Mountaineers will take on Mississippi State Saturday night in Starkville as part of the Big East-SEC Challenge.
So, is this young West Virginia squad ready for the 21st-ranked team in the country in their gym?
“We’re not going to know unless we do it,” said Huggins. “We’re going to be alright. We get young and dumb and we’ve got to get away from that. We’re going to be young but we’ve got to get away from the dumb.”
Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPNU.
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