Williams-Main-12515.jpg
Mountaineers Roll Over Kennesaw State
December 05, 2015 03:08 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia used a career-high 26 points from junior forward Devin Williams to dispose of Kennesaw State, 87-54, at the WVU Coliseum Saturday afternoon.
Williams made 11 of his 15 field goal attempts and added nine rebounds for the 20th-ranked Mountaineers, now 7-0 to begin the year for the second straight season.
Sophomore guard Daxter Miles Jr. contributed 18 points and senior forward Jonathan Holton nearly missed a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds.
“We just didn’t have a lot of interest in the game today, I don’t think,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, continuing his climb up the NCAA all-time wins chart with career victory No. 772, although it’s a safe bet he will struggle to remember today’s game when his career is finished.
West Virginia shot 52.3 percent from the floor, or 0.6 percent better than it did from the free throw line (15 of 29), which is an indication of the interest level from his players this afternoon.
“When you come in and you shoot 50 percent from the free throw line you’re not ready to play, and we were not ready to play,” said Huggins. “When you miss layups … we missed four or five, you’re not ready to play. When you have unforced turnovers that’s just a lack of concentration.”
Fortunately for West Virginia, the outmanned Owls were outmanned, turning the ball over 31 times leading to 31 Mountaineer points.
Today’s game did represent the season debut for junior forward Brandon Watkins, who missed the first six games of the year while recovering from off-season knee surgery. Watkins played 17 minutes and scored six points, grabbed six rebounds, blocked a shot and handed out an assist to draw praise from his coach.
“He gives us a presence around the rim, and I liked the way he played today,” said Huggins of Watkins’ initial performance of the season.
Kennesaw State, which has lost games this year at Alabama and LSU, drops to 2-8. Kendrick Ray led the Owls with 23 points.
A Family Day crowd of 8,731 watched today's game.
West Virginia can now turn its full attention toward Tuesday night’s anticipated matchup against 10th-ranked Virginia in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The 5-1 Cavaliers are playing William & Mary this afternoon, and are coming off a recent 64-58 victory over Ohio State in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
“We are going to have to play a whole lot better than we did today to beat Virginia on Tuesday night,” said Huggins.
Tuesday night’s game, to be televised nationally on ESPN, will be only the 17th time these two border rivals are meeting on the hardwood and the first since 1985 when Virginia played West Virginia in the first round of the NIT in Morgantown.
Overall, the series is tied at eight wins apiece, although the Cavaliers have won five of the last seven.
The Mountaineers will fly to New York on Sunday and will get a couple days of work in the city before Tuesday night's game.
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
