Saturday, November 18
Morgantown, W.Va.
7:30 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Morgan State
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Mountaineers Go Bear Hunting Saturday
November 17, 2017 12:10 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - A quick turnaround is on the menu for Bob Huggins' 24th-ranked West Virginia University men's basketball team as his Mountaineers face Morgan State from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference on Saturday, Nov. 18, at 7:30 p.m.
The game will follow the football team's noon matchup against Texas at Milan Puskar Stadium.
West Virginia (1-1) is coming off its first victory of the season, a 98-64 triumph over American on Wednesday night that saw five different players score double figures led by 20 points each from senior guards Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles Jr.
"They can't hunt (their points)," Huggins said. "And I thought in the first half they hunted them a little bit. We've got to get them in the flow of the game."
After a slow start, the Mountaineers scored 15 straight points to begin the second half to open up a 20-point lead that eventually swelled to more than 30.
WVU shot 64.5 percent from the floor in the second half and forced American to turn the ball over 22 times.
After two games, sophomore guard James Bolden leads the team in scoring with an average of 17.6 points per game. He scored a career-high 19 in West Virginia's 23-point loss to Texas A&M to open the season and added 16 off the bench in Wednesday night's win over the Eagles.
"That's what we put him in for," Huggins said Wednesday night. "It's not his lock-down defense. The hard thing sometimes to get those guys to realize is that's why he's in the game. He was open several times in the first half and we didn't get him the ball and we should have gotten him the ball."
Carter (16.5 ppg.), Miles (11.5 ppg.), sophomore forward Wesley Harris (10.0 ppg.) and sophomore forward Lamont West (10.0 ppg.) are also averaging double figures in the early going.
Morgan State (2-1) has already played three games and will be playing its fourth in an eight-day span. The Bears opened the season with a 76-59 loss to Binghamton and remained on the road to defeat South Florida, 62-53, in Tampa last Monday night.
Freshman guard LaPri McCray-Pace scored 15 points, nine coming from 3s, in leading the Bears over the Bulls. Morgan State led 32-26 at halftime and limited USF to just 34.8 percent shooting for the night.
Three nights later, Morgan State downed Division II Lincoln University, 72-60, in Baltimore. Forward Phillip Carr scored 12 and pulled down 19 rebounds to help the Bears overcome a 35.3 percent shooting performance from the floor.
Four different players scored double figures, 11 each from forward Martez Cameron and reserve wing Tyler Streeter.
The starting lineup Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman used against Lincoln included 6-10 Tyjhai Byers, 6-8 Carr, 6-4 McCray-Pace, 6-foot Antonio Gillespie and 5-11 Martez Cameron.
Bozeman is a familiar name to Mountaineer fans, having once played at Rhode Island when the Rams were in the Atlantic 10 with West Virginia and he later coached four seasons at California from 1993-96.
Bozeman has led Morgan State to three MEAC titles, his most recent coming in 2010.
Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook predicts a third-place finish for Morgan State in the MEAC this year behind Norfolk State and North Carolina Central.
The Bears have made two prior appearances to the Coliseum, the last coming in 2010 when sixth-ranked West Virginia defeated them 77-50.
Saturday's game will be televised locally on Nexstar with Lanny Frattare and Warren Baker handling the call. The game will also be streamed live via WVUsports.com.
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's pregame coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m. on affiliates throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the mobile app TuneIn.
Pregame notes: Senior guard Jevon Carter jumped two spots past Devin Williams and Mike Boyd into 33rd place in career scoring at WVU with 1,151 career points … He needs just six to move pass guard Jim McCormick into 32nd place with 1,156 points, and 17 points to hop past Chris Moss into 31st place … Carter is coming off perhaps the best all-around game of his career against American, scoring 20, grabbing seven rebounds, handing out seven assists and making nine steals … veteran coach Bob Huggins is now 103-27 in regular season non-conference home games following Wednesday night's victory over American, including a 58-4 record at the Coliseum … sophomore forward Sagaba Konate dressed for Wednesday night's game against American but did not play … Huggins said afterward it was his decision and he expects him to play Saturday night against Morgan State … sophomore forward Maciej Bender started at center in Konate's place … Bolden is leading the team in shooting at 54.5 percent … the rest of the team is shooting just 39.6 percent.
The game will follow the football team's noon matchup against Texas at Milan Puskar Stadium.
West Virginia (1-1) is coming off its first victory of the season, a 98-64 triumph over American on Wednesday night that saw five different players score double figures led by 20 points each from senior guards Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles Jr.
"They can't hunt (their points)," Huggins said. "And I thought in the first half they hunted them a little bit. We've got to get them in the flow of the game."
After a slow start, the Mountaineers scored 15 straight points to begin the second half to open up a 20-point lead that eventually swelled to more than 30.
WVU shot 64.5 percent from the floor in the second half and forced American to turn the ball over 22 times.
After two games, sophomore guard James Bolden leads the team in scoring with an average of 17.6 points per game. He scored a career-high 19 in West Virginia's 23-point loss to Texas A&M to open the season and added 16 off the bench in Wednesday night's win over the Eagles.
"That's what we put him in for," Huggins said Wednesday night. "It's not his lock-down defense. The hard thing sometimes to get those guys to realize is that's why he's in the game. He was open several times in the first half and we didn't get him the ball and we should have gotten him the ball."
Carter (16.5 ppg.), Miles (11.5 ppg.), sophomore forward Wesley Harris (10.0 ppg.) and sophomore forward Lamont West (10.0 ppg.) are also averaging double figures in the early going.
Morgan State (2-1) has already played three games and will be playing its fourth in an eight-day span. The Bears opened the season with a 76-59 loss to Binghamton and remained on the road to defeat South Florida, 62-53, in Tampa last Monday night.
Freshman guard LaPri McCray-Pace scored 15 points, nine coming from 3s, in leading the Bears over the Bulls. Morgan State led 32-26 at halftime and limited USF to just 34.8 percent shooting for the night.
Three nights later, Morgan State downed Division II Lincoln University, 72-60, in Baltimore. Forward Phillip Carr scored 12 and pulled down 19 rebounds to help the Bears overcome a 35.3 percent shooting performance from the floor.
Four different players scored double figures, 11 each from forward Martez Cameron and reserve wing Tyler Streeter.
The starting lineup Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman used against Lincoln included 6-10 Tyjhai Byers, 6-8 Carr, 6-4 McCray-Pace, 6-foot Antonio Gillespie and 5-11 Martez Cameron.
Bozeman is a familiar name to Mountaineer fans, having once played at Rhode Island when the Rams were in the Atlantic 10 with West Virginia and he later coached four seasons at California from 1993-96.
Bozeman has led Morgan State to three MEAC titles, his most recent coming in 2010.
Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook predicts a third-place finish for Morgan State in the MEAC this year behind Norfolk State and North Carolina Central.
The Bears have made two prior appearances to the Coliseum, the last coming in 2010 when sixth-ranked West Virginia defeated them 77-50.
Saturday's game will be televised locally on Nexstar with Lanny Frattare and Warren Baker handling the call. The game will also be streamed live via WVUsports.com.
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's pregame coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m. on affiliates throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the mobile app TuneIn.
Pregame notes: Senior guard Jevon Carter jumped two spots past Devin Williams and Mike Boyd into 33rd place in career scoring at WVU with 1,151 career points … He needs just six to move pass guard Jim McCormick into 32nd place with 1,156 points, and 17 points to hop past Chris Moss into 31st place … Carter is coming off perhaps the best all-around game of his career against American, scoring 20, grabbing seven rebounds, handing out seven assists and making nine steals … veteran coach Bob Huggins is now 103-27 in regular season non-conference home games following Wednesday night's victory over American, including a 58-4 record at the Coliseum … sophomore forward Sagaba Konate dressed for Wednesday night's game against American but did not play … Huggins said afterward it was his decision and he expects him to play Saturday night against Morgan State … sophomore forward Maciej Bender started at center in Konate's place … Bolden is leading the team in shooting at 54.5 percent … the rest of the team is shooting just 39.6 percent.
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