Sunday, December 30
Morgantown, W.Va.
2:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
8-4
78
vs
68
Lehigh
7-4
1
2
F
Lehigh
34
34
68
West Virginia
38
40
78
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Bolden's 22 Lifts West Virginia Over Lehigh
December 30, 2018 04:57 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Beetle Bolden came off the bench to score a career-high 22 points and Esa Ahmad added 21 to lift West Virginia to a 78-68 victory over Lehigh here at the WVU Coliseum this afternoon.
Bolden hit four 3s, grabbed eight rebounds, handed out five assists and spent the early portion of the game at the off-guard position with freshman point guard Jordan McCabe earning his first start of the season.
"I told Beetle the other day we need to get him off the ball some so he can make shots," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "We're not near as good when he's not making shots."
McCabe hit a couple of shots and finished with 5 points in 12 minutes of action before Huggins switched to Bolden and junior Chase Harler in the backcourt for most of the second half.
"Jordan had two really good practices so we started him and he struggled a little bit. (Brandon Knapper) came in and he struggled a little bit so we put Beetle back at the point," Huggins explained. "You put Beetle and Chase out there and they have to guard him."
West Virginia got a big lift from freshman forward Derek Culver, who took over the game with 11:18 remaining when the Mountaineers were leading by just two, 52-50.
Culver hit a couple of free throws on back-to-back possessions to WVU up four, and then he fed Bolden for a short jumper to make it a six-point game.
Four minutes later, following a Lance Tejada 3, Culver made a pretty baseline move to score and was fouled by Nic Lynch on the play. After converting a traditional three-point play, Culver grabbed Kyle Leufroy's miss and then followed up Ahmad's miss to give the Mountaineers an eight-point lead.
At the other end of the floor, Culver blocked Jeameril Wilson's driving layup attempt, Jermaine Haley grabbed the rebound and that stop eventually led to two Ahmad free throws, giving the Mountaineers their first double-digit lead of the game, 69-59.
Culver played a total of 19 minutes and finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Wesley Harris, coming off consecutive career-high scoring performances against Rhode Island and Jacksonville State, contributed 10 points and hit a couple of big second-half 3s, his second from the corner with 1:51 remaining to give West Virginia a 13-point advantage, its biggest of the game.
Ahmad's 21-point, nine-rebound performance was also very encouraging after he spent nearly all of last weekend's Jacksonville State game watching on the bench.
"He's terrific without the ball," Huggins said. "Esa's is as good a player as there is in the country without the ball and our guys have to do a better job of finding him when he makes those curls off the ball. It's a work in progress, as they say."
There were 11 lead changes and seven ties before West Virginia finally took control of things halfway through the second half.
"I thought when we passed the ball we were very good," Huggins said. "When we tried to dribble by people we weren't very good."
WVU used its big size advantage to out-rebound the Mountain Hawks, 52-25. Ahmad grabbed nine boards while Harris and Logan Routt added five rebounds each. The Mountaineers had a staggering 30-2 margin in second-chance points and they also outscored the Mountain Hawks 37-10 from their bench.
West Virginia hit 10-of-29 from 3, which was one better than Lehigh's 9-of-21. Forward Pat Andree led the Mountain Hawks, now 7-5, with 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting, but he only got 3 in the second half when Huggins put Harris on him.
Three other Lehigh players reached double figures, led by Jordan Cohen's 14.
Today's game was Lehigh's first visit to the WVU Coliseum since Jan. 23, 1975 when Huggins was a Mountaineer player.
An announced crowd of 10,754 watched today's game.
The victory boosts West Virginia's record to 8-4 and gives it a little momentum heading into Big 12 play coming up Wednesday night when the Mountaineers entertain 11th-ranked Texas Tech, now 10-1 following last Friday's 71-46 victory over Rio Grande Valley.
Wednesday night's Big 12 opener will tip at 7 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
Bolden hit four 3s, grabbed eight rebounds, handed out five assists and spent the early portion of the game at the off-guard position with freshman point guard Jordan McCabe earning his first start of the season.
"I told Beetle the other day we need to get him off the ball some so he can make shots," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "We're not near as good when he's not making shots."
McCabe hit a couple of shots and finished with 5 points in 12 minutes of action before Huggins switched to Bolden and junior Chase Harler in the backcourt for most of the second half.
"Jordan had two really good practices so we started him and he struggled a little bit. (Brandon Knapper) came in and he struggled a little bit so we put Beetle back at the point," Huggins explained. "You put Beetle and Chase out there and they have to guard him."
West Virginia got a big lift from freshman forward Derek Culver, who took over the game with 11:18 remaining when the Mountaineers were leading by just two, 52-50.Culver hit a couple of free throws on back-to-back possessions to WVU up four, and then he fed Bolden for a short jumper to make it a six-point game.
Four minutes later, following a Lance Tejada 3, Culver made a pretty baseline move to score and was fouled by Nic Lynch on the play. After converting a traditional three-point play, Culver grabbed Kyle Leufroy's miss and then followed up Ahmad's miss to give the Mountaineers an eight-point lead.
At the other end of the floor, Culver blocked Jeameril Wilson's driving layup attempt, Jermaine Haley grabbed the rebound and that stop eventually led to two Ahmad free throws, giving the Mountaineers their first double-digit lead of the game, 69-59.
Culver played a total of 19 minutes and finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Wesley Harris, coming off consecutive career-high scoring performances against Rhode Island and Jacksonville State, contributed 10 points and hit a couple of big second-half 3s, his second from the corner with 1:51 remaining to give West Virginia a 13-point advantage, its biggest of the game.
Ahmad's 21-point, nine-rebound performance was also very encouraging after he spent nearly all of last weekend's Jacksonville State game watching on the bench.
"He's terrific without the ball," Huggins said. "Esa's is as good a player as there is in the country without the ball and our guys have to do a better job of finding him when he makes those curls off the ball. It's a work in progress, as they say."
There were 11 lead changes and seven ties before West Virginia finally took control of things halfway through the second half.
"I thought when we passed the ball we were very good," Huggins said. "When we tried to dribble by people we weren't very good."
WVU used its big size advantage to out-rebound the Mountain Hawks, 52-25. Ahmad grabbed nine boards while Harris and Logan Routt added five rebounds each. The Mountaineers had a staggering 30-2 margin in second-chance points and they also outscored the Mountain Hawks 37-10 from their bench.
West Virginia hit 10-of-29 from 3, which was one better than Lehigh's 9-of-21. Forward Pat Andree led the Mountain Hawks, now 7-5, with 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting, but he only got 3 in the second half when Huggins put Harris on him.
Three other Lehigh players reached double figures, led by Jordan Cohen's 14.
Today's game was Lehigh's first visit to the WVU Coliseum since Jan. 23, 1975 when Huggins was a Mountaineer player.
An announced crowd of 10,754 watched today's game.
The victory boosts West Virginia's record to 8-4 and gives it a little momentum heading into Big 12 play coming up Wednesday night when the Mountaineers entertain 11th-ranked Texas Tech, now 10-1 following last Friday's 71-46 victory over Rio Grande Valley.
Wednesday night's Big 12 opener will tip at 7 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
Team Stats
LEHIGH
WVU
FG%
.436
.415
3FG%
.429
.345
FT%
.733
.609
RB
25
52
TO
8
12
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Pts
22
FGM
7
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
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