WVU Outlasts Dukes in Charleston
November 16, 2015 09:34 PM | Men's Basketball
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Jevon Carter and Devin Williams scored 19 points each to power 23rd-ranked West Virginia to an 86-73 victory over James Madison Monday night at the Charleston Civic Center.
The Mountaineers (2-0) led throughout, but could never completely distance themselves from the feisty Dukes, who defeated Richmond by 12 on the road last Friday night.
"It was a good game, they're a good team, they're well coached and if they shoot it like that they're not going to lose very many," said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. "They made some hard shots tonight."
West Virginia began the game with Carter’s alley oop dunk, and then the Mountaineers used their size in the paint to build an early seven-point lead on consecutive baskets by Jonathan Holton and Williams.
An Esa Ahmad 3 from the wing and an Elijah Macon tip-in got it to nine, 15-6, and then a pretty Macon pass to a cutting Holton gave West Virginia its first double-digit advantage at 27-17.
Shakir Brown kept James Madison around in the first half, dropping in a pair of 3s and hitting all six of his free throw attempts. The Dukes were 12 of 12 from the line until Tom Vodanovich missed the second of two with 2:27 left.
West Virginia’s biggest lead of the first half was 14, 41-27, following a pair of Williams free throws with 5:18 remaining.
Williams scored on the opening possession of the second half, and the Mountaineers used constant pressure to build the lead back to 14, 60-46, on baskets by Nathan Adrian and Elijah Macon following consecutive JMU turnovers.
The Dukes (1-1) answered with five straight from Vodanovich and Joey McLean, and then two Brown charity throws reduced West Virginia’s lead to seven, 60-53.
Leading by nine, 70-61, with six minutes left, West Virginia used a 6-0 spurt, two of those coming on an Ahmad no-look pass to Daxter Miles Jr. on an inbounds play and two more coming on a Williams dunk off of a Dukes turnover to make it 76-61.
The Mountaineers’ biggest lead of the game was 19 after Holton’s follow-up basket.
"If we move the ball we've got enough guys that can score and make shots, but when one guy domintes the ball we're not very good," said Huggins.
Holton contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds while Miles Jr. finished with 11 for the Mountaineers.
West Virginia shot 43.9 percent overall, 37.5 percent from 3, and 73.3 percent from the free throw line. WVU also made nine steals and forced 19 turnovers.
"I think for a while we were playing to put on a show instead of playing to win games," said Huggins. "At the end of the second half we made turnovers that were ridiculous turnovers."
Brown led all scorers with 21 points off the bench for James Madison.
The Dukes shot 41.2 percent from the floor and 32.1 percent from 3, 9 of 28, while hitting 22 of 24 from the free throw line.
Tonight’s attendance was announced at 8,101.
This is the first of two trips to the Capital City for West Virginia, the Mountaineers returning in December to face Marshall in the annual Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic on December 17.
West Virginia returns to the WVU Coliseum on Friday night to face Stetson in a game that will tip at 7 p.m. and will be televised locally on Root Sports.
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