Thursday, December 12
Morgantown, W.Va.
7:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
8-1,0-0Big 12
84
vs
53
Austin Peay
4-5,0-0OVC
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin Peay | 21 | 32 | 53 |
| West Virginia | 38 | 46 | 84 |
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
West Virginia Cruises Thursday Night Against Austin Peay
December 12, 2019 09:32 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Emmitt Matthews Jr. scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead West Virginia to a leisurely 84-53 victory over Austin Peay here at the WVU Coliseum Thursday night.
The Mountaineers also got 14 points and 10 rebounds from freshman forward Oscar Tshiebwe, his fourth double-double of the year, to improve to 8-1 with a Saturday game here against Nicholls looming.
"I thought we played well in spurts," said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, now nine wins shy of passing legendary Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp for seventh place on the NCAA all-time win list with 876 victories. "We start the game and turn it over eight times in the first half and just made some really bad plays. We've got to cut that out and do a better job of not giving them the ball back after we get it."
West Virginia shot 50.7 percent from the floor, had a 22-rebound advantage on the glass, got 49 points in the paint and 39 points from its bench.
Everybody except for Spencer Macke got into the scoring column, although the walk-on guard got a couple of good looks when he entered the game with two minutes left - much to the delight of the student section.
Tonight's matchup was a difficult assignment for the Governors, picked to finish fourth this year in the Ohio Valley Conference and making their first-ever appearance in Morgantown. Austin Peay finished final examinations yesterday and rode in a sleeper bus for nine hours to get here late last night for today's game.
And it showed.
The Governors (4-5) shot just 25 percent in the first half and finished the evening hitting only 19-of-55 for 34.5 percent.
Austin Peay was 1-of-14 from 3.
Forward Terry Taylor, who came into tonight's game leading the team with an average of 22.5 points per game, nearly got to his average with a strong second half. The 6-5 forward scored 19 points on 9-of-17 shooting and he also led the Governors with six rebounds.
After a slow start, backups Gabe Osabuohien, Sean McNeil and Logan Routt got the team going midway through the first half to help West Virginia build a 17-point halftime lead, its biggest of the year.
Osabuohien scored 4, grabbed three rebounds, handed out five assists and made a couple of steals, Routt scored 6 and grabbed three boards and McNeil made one 3 and finished with 9 points.
"We've talked at length about how much we needed to get (Osabuohien) eligible to complete this group," Huggins said. "Bringing him and Logan off the bench, we don't lose a lot. And bringing those other two guys out there we can rest (starters Derek Culver and Tshiebwe) more."
Nicholls, which defeated the Carver Cougars by 74 points on Wednesday night, will be bringing a 6-4 record into Saturday's game.
One of the Colonels' players is former Mountaineer D'Angelo Hunter, who is fourth on the team in scoring with an average of 10.2 points per game. Nicholls has been very competitive against a challenging early-season schedule that includes road games at Illinois, Pitt, LSU and Rhode Island.
Nicholls upset Pitt, lost by eight in overtime at Illinois, fell by just 10 at No. 23 LSU and lost by five at Rhode Island.
Huggins is seeking a much crisper performance from his team on Saturday.
"We don't want to turn it over as much as we turned it over today and we don't want to give up straight-line drives the way we did today," he said. "They've got to score overtop of us."
Saturday's game will tip off at 2 p.m. and will be televised locally on AT&T Sportsnet.
The Mountaineers also got 14 points and 10 rebounds from freshman forward Oscar Tshiebwe, his fourth double-double of the year, to improve to 8-1 with a Saturday game here against Nicholls looming.
"I thought we played well in spurts," said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, now nine wins shy of passing legendary Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp for seventh place on the NCAA all-time win list with 876 victories. "We start the game and turn it over eight times in the first half and just made some really bad plays. We've got to cut that out and do a better job of not giving them the ball back after we get it."
West Virginia shot 50.7 percent from the floor, had a 22-rebound advantage on the glass, got 49 points in the paint and 39 points from its bench.
Everybody except for Spencer Macke got into the scoring column, although the walk-on guard got a couple of good looks when he entered the game with two minutes left - much to the delight of the student section.
Tonight's matchup was a difficult assignment for the Governors, picked to finish fourth this year in the Ohio Valley Conference and making their first-ever appearance in Morgantown. Austin Peay finished final examinations yesterday and rode in a sleeper bus for nine hours to get here late last night for today's game.
And it showed.
The Governors (4-5) shot just 25 percent in the first half and finished the evening hitting only 19-of-55 for 34.5 percent.
Austin Peay was 1-of-14 from 3.
Forward Terry Taylor, who came into tonight's game leading the team with an average of 22.5 points per game, nearly got to his average with a strong second half. The 6-5 forward scored 19 points on 9-of-17 shooting and he also led the Governors with six rebounds.
After a slow start, backups Gabe Osabuohien, Sean McNeil and Logan Routt got the team going midway through the first half to help West Virginia build a 17-point halftime lead, its biggest of the year.
Osabuohien scored 4, grabbed three rebounds, handed out five assists and made a couple of steals, Routt scored 6 and grabbed three boards and McNeil made one 3 and finished with 9 points.
"We've talked at length about how much we needed to get (Osabuohien) eligible to complete this group," Huggins said. "Bringing him and Logan off the bench, we don't lose a lot. And bringing those other two guys out there we can rest (starters Derek Culver and Tshiebwe) more."
Nicholls, which defeated the Carver Cougars by 74 points on Wednesday night, will be bringing a 6-4 record into Saturday's game.
One of the Colonels' players is former Mountaineer D'Angelo Hunter, who is fourth on the team in scoring with an average of 10.2 points per game. Nicholls has been very competitive against a challenging early-season schedule that includes road games at Illinois, Pitt, LSU and Rhode Island.
Nicholls upset Pitt, lost by eight in overtime at Illinois, fell by just 10 at No. 23 LSU and lost by five at Rhode Island.
Huggins is seeking a much crisper performance from his team on Saturday.
"We don't want to turn it over as much as we turned it over today and we don't want to give up straight-line drives the way we did today," he said. "They've got to score overtop of us."
Saturday's game will tip off at 2 p.m. and will be televised locally on AT&T Sportsnet.
Team Stats
APSU
WVU
FG%
.345
.507
3FG%
.071
.353
FT%
.636
.625
RB
28
50
TO
14
14
STL
8
9
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
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