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WVU Readies for the Norse
December 22, 2016 11:06 AM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia will conclude its four-game home stand on Friday against Northern Kentucky at the WVU Coliseum in a special 4 p.m. matinee that will air locally on ROOT SPORTS.
The Mountaineers improved to 10-1 following Tuesday night’s 84-57 victory over Radford. In that game, West Virginia led by 31 at halftime before cruising to a 27-point victory - the seventh by a margin of 25 points or more at the Coliseum so far this year.
Esa Ahmad scored a game-high 17 points to lead three double-digit scorers. Jevon Carter contributed 15 and Tarik Phillip came off the bench to add 13.
WVU shot 49.2 percent from the floor and forced Radford into committing 29 turnovers, but the Highlanders actually outscored West Virginia, 35-31, in the second half.
“We were really lethargic against Radford,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “We’re trying to build and it’s a progression. You try and get competent in something and then you try and add something to it but if you don’t remain competent at the building blocks of what you’re doing then everything is going to crumble.”
Ahmad (13.0 ppg.) and senior forward Nathan Adrian (10.6 ppg.) are the only two Mountaineer players averaging double figures, but eight players are currently averaging at least 7.2 points per game and 11 are averaging more than 4.3 points per contest.
Just four players - Ahmad, Adrian, Carter and Phillip - are averaging more than 20 minutes per game and nine different players have logged more than 125 minutes of game action so far this season.
WVU continues to lead the country in turnover margin (15.7), turnovers forced (23.4), offensive rebounds (16.8) and steals (13.6).
Northern Kentucky, now 9-3 following its 24-point win over Brescia on Wednesday, has now won six straight games leading into Friday’s game against the Mountaineers.
The Norse have also counted wins over Norfolk State, Eastern Illinois, Southeast Missouri State and Eastern Washington since the calendar has flipped to December.
Former Marshall standout player John Brannen is now in his second season at Northern after signing one of the best mid-major recruiting classes in the country, according to Next Up Recruits. One of those players Ohio Division III player of the year Dantez Walton, a 6-foot-5-inch, 205-pound guard from Lima, Ohio.
Drew McDonald, a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward from Cold Spring, Kentucky, leads the team in scoring (17.3) and rebounding (7.8). He is shooting an impressive 53.9 percent from the floor, including 38.2 percent from 3.
Lavone Holland II, a 6-foot-1 guard, is another capable scorer averaging 15.7 points per game while handing out a team-best 46 assists.
“They’re really solid,” said Huggins. “Coach Brannen does a heck of a job. He’s done a great job in recruiting and I think schematically they’ll do a good as anybody against our pressure.”
Friday’s game will be the third meeting between the two schools, all of the games coming in the last three years. Last year, WVU defeated Northern Kentucky 107-61.
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG’s pregame coverage will begin at 3:30 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia and online through WVUsports.com and the mobile app TuneIn.
Tickets for the game are specially priced at $10 throughout the arena.
“Wouldn’t that be fun to have a packed house here before Christmas?” said Huggins. “That would send Mountaineer Nation into the holidays in great spirits.”
As of Thursday morning, there were only about 1,000 tickets remaining.
Following Friday’s game, West Virginia opens Big 12 play against Oklahoma State on Friday, December 30 in Stillwater.
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
