Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Led by six players in double figures and a career-high 12 assists by senior guard
Jevon Carter, the No. 10 West Virginia University men's basketball team took down visiting Fordham, 86-69, on Saturday at the WVU Coliseum.
Carter finished with 10 points to go along with his dozen dimes, producing his fifth career double-double. Sophomore forward
Sagaba Konate also recorded a double-double in the win, scoring 12 points and tallying a career-high 11 rebounds.
With the win, WVU improved to 11-1 for the fourth consecutive season, while head coach
Bob Huggins earned his 830th career victory, tying longtime Mount St. Mary's coach Jim Phelan for seventh place all-time on the NCAA Division I basketball wins list.
"We played bad and scored 86," Huggins said. "That's not a bad deal when you play really bad and score 86. And we played bad. Played bad, shot it bad, and passed it bad. Obviously, they had something to do with it."
Carter took the unselfish approach from the opening tip on Saturday against the pesky Rams (5-7), which are led by former WVU assistant coach Jeff Neubauer, registering back-to-back assists in the opening minutes of the game. The Maywood, Illinois, native sent a nice feed down to the low block for an easy finish by sophomore forward
Lamont West, before finding senior guard
Daxter Miles Jr. for a 3-pointer to give the Mountaineers a 10-7 lead.
Carter finished with eight assists in the first half alone.
"That's what good players do," Huggins said of Carter. "Everyone has really been trying to gap him, so they basically are guarding him with two guys on penetration. Quite frankly, he hasn't shot the ball near as well. If you're not shooting it as well and it doesn't feel as good coming off of your hand, and someone else is shooting it better, get them the ball."
The Mountaineers made six of eight field goals at one point in the first half, but they turned the ball over four times during that span. That allowed Fordham to hang around and even take a 16-15 lead at the 13:25 mark of the first half.
Then, the Rams' shooting went cold. Fordham was held without a field goal for over six minutes, which allowed WVU to build a lead. The Mountaineers received three buckets by sophomore guard
James Bolden, one of which came from beyond the arc, as well as a 3-pointer by sophomore forward
Wesley Harris and a three-point-play by Konate.
Fordham's Joseph Chartourny finally ended the Rams' drought with a bucket with 2:29 to go before the half. By then, however, WVU enjoyed a 10-point lead at 40-30.
Later on, it was the Mountaineers' turn to cool off from the field. WVU made just 2 of its last 11 shots to close the half, allowing Fordham to take a 9-2 run into the locker room. Carter got a layup to fall with just seconds left on the clock to give the Mountaineers a slim 46-39 halftime lead.
Fordham made just 10 first-half field goals, but five of them came from downtown. The Rams also went 14 of 16 from the free-throw line in the first half.
The Mountaineers stormed out of the gates to start the second half, though, scoring seven of the first nine points to bump their lead up to 53-41. Then, roles reversed a bit as WVU went without a field goal for over four minutes around the midway point in the half, sparking another opportunistic Ram run.
Fordham hung around all day, including getting as close as six of the lead in the second half.
Carter, who also finished with five rebounds and three steals in the win, was forced to sit after recording his third and fourth fouls just seconds between each other with 10:03 to play in the game. But the senior's teammates stepped up in his absence, as Miles drained a big 3 at the 9:29 mark to push WVU's lead to 65-55.
With the lead again back into single digits, Miles hit another 3-pointer with 6:15 to play, just moments before Carter reentered the game.
Miles finished with a team-high 21 points in the win, as well as six assists and four rebounds.
"Thank God Dax shot it really well," Huggins said of Miles. "Dax hit a huge 3 down there when they cut it to seven or whatever it was. He hit a huge 3."
From there, sophomore guard
Chase Harler swished a 3 with 3:59 to play, giving WVU an 11-point lead that it wouldn't surrender. Then, Miles scored a pretty, fast-break bucket off a nice pass from Carter on the team's next possession.
Konate capped the holiday victory off in style with a thunderous dunk that led to a trip to the line for one more, bumping WVU's advantage to 82-65 with just over a minute to play.
WVU finished 30 of 66 (45.5%) from the field, including making 10 3s as a team. The Mountaineers also forced 17 turnovers and dominated the rebounding category, 44-28.
Additionally, West finished with 15 points for WVU, while Bolden added 11 more. Harris chipped in with 10 points for the Mountaineers.
"We tell them all of the time, 'If you're going to shoot the ball, know when, know where, and know why,'" Huggins said. "I didn't think we did that very well today."
For Fordham, Will Tavares led the way with 18 points, as the Rams shot 23 of 54 (42.6%) from the field.
After producing its 11th consecutive win – the team's longest win streak since 2010 – WVU enter Big 12 Conference play on Friday, Dec. 29 at Oklahoma State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET in Stillwater, and it can be seen on ESPNU.