Paige-Main-122115.jpg
WVU Collects 10th Victory of the Season
December 21, 2015 09:59 PM | Men's Basketball
Final Stats Photo Gallery
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – These 25-point victories are starting to become a habit for West Virginia at the WVU Coliseum.
After a slow start, the 19th-ranked Mountaineers used 17 first-half points off the bench from guard Jaysean Paige to bury Eastern Kentucky 84-59 Monday night in Morgantown.
Paige finished with 17, while junior forward Devin Williams contributed 15 points and eight rebounds, Daxter Miles Jr. scored 12 and Jevon Carter added 11.
“We make the run and then it was a very lackluster effort by us in the second half,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, who earned his 775th career win tonight. Huggins is now one victory shy of Cliff Ellis for 12th place on the NCAA all-time wins list.
Bob Huggins (8:39)
The Mountaineers used a 20-5 run during a seven-minute stretch to turn a four-point deficit into an 11-point lead with Carter and forward Jonathan Holton keying the run. Holton got a stick-back basket and a layup and Carter nailed a couple of 3s to give WVU a 20-14 lead.
After Eastern Kentucky’s Greg King made one of two from the free throw line with 6:58 left to reduce West Virginia’s lead to 25-19, the Mountaineers scored the next 21 points to turn the game into another Coliseum rout.
It’s the seventh time this season West Virginia has won by 20 points or more, six of those coming at the Coliseum. The Mountaineers’ average margin of victory in their six games this year at home against Northern Kentucky, Stetson, Bethune Cookman, Kennesaw State, UL Monroe and Eastern Kentucky is 40 points per game.
Tonight, West Virginia shot 49.2 percent from the floor, including 10 of 24 from 3, outrebounded the Colonels, 37-27 and made 11 steals that contributed to 18 Eastern Kentucky turnovers.
“You’ve got to keep playing,” said Huggins. “We can’t keep relying on making jump shots and we’ve got to make things happen.”
An announced crowd of 8,121 attended tonight’s game.
Eastern Kentucky, playing without its top scorer Jarelle Reischel who was a late scratch because of back spasms, got 16 points from Jevontae Hawkins. The Colonels drop to 8-6 with tonight’s loss.
Heading into this week’s action, West Virginia continues to lead the country in steals, 3-point field goal percentage defense (that may fall following EKU’s 41.7 percentage from behind the arc tonight), forced turnovers and offensive rebounds per game.
The Mountaineers run their record to 10-1 for the second consecutive year and will now have nine days over the Christmas break to get ready to face Virginia Tech next Wednesday afternoon in Blacksburg. It’s the first of three consecutive road games coming up for the Mountaineers through early January.
“We’re giving them four days off and they will be back here on the 26th,” said Huggins. “If we just do what we are capable of doing we’ll be fine – but we’ve got to do it. If we’re going to be what (the players) say they want to be then that’s what good teams do – they go into somebody else’s house and win.”
The Hokies are currently 8-3 with a game coming up against St. Joseph’s tomorrow night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The Hokies’ three losses this season have come against Alabama State, Iowa State and Northwestern.
West Virginia’s last visit to Blacksburg to play the Hokies on November 12, 2013 resulted in a five-point loss after the Mountaineers led by 17 points with seven minutes left in the first half.
The two schools have played 78 times with West Virginia owning a 48-30 record in series play.
The Virginia Tech game will tip off at noon and will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
College Basketball Crown Recap
Thursday, April 16
Ross Hodge, Honor Huff & Brenen Lorient | Oklahoma Postgame
Sunday, April 05
Ross Hodge, Treysen Eaglestaff & Brenen Lorient | Creighton Postgame
Saturday, April 04
Ross Hodge & Honor Huff | Stanford Postgame
Thursday, April 02
