Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Double-Double dudes Derek Culver and Oscar Tshiebwe were at it again today in leading West Virginia to an 83-57 runaway victory over Nicholls at the WVU Coliseum.
 
Culver scored 16 points and grabbed 16 rebounds and Tshiebwe added 15 points and 11 boards to boost the Mountaineers' record to 9-1 with a week off before facing former assistant coach Jerrod Calhoun's Youngstown State Penguins on the road next Saturday.
 
In addition to Culver and Tshiebwe, West Virginia got 15 off the bench from freshman guard Miles McBride and 10 points each from Emmitt Matthews Jr. and Sean McNeil.
 
The Mountaineers produced 39 points from their bench.
 
"It's a good thing we've got a deep bench and was able to hang in there until the second half when we came out and played the way we are capable of playing," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said.
 
Culver now shows 12 career double-doubles in just 36 career games (with 16 double-digit rebounding games) while Tshiebwe has five double-doubles in 10 games so far this season.
 
Those two were responsible for West Virginia's 44-27 advantage on the glass and the Mountaineers limiting the Colonels to just 36 percent from the floor on 22-of-61 shooting.
 
After a poor start from the field, the Mountaineers shot 52 percent in the second half to finish at 44.3 percent for the day.
 
"I was wondering when we were going to wake up," Huggins said. "We didn't guard anybody and they straight-lined us to death. And we couldn't make a shot."
 
It was a 43-all game with 16:43 remaining when West Virginia transfer D'Angelo Hunter converted a traditional three-point play. But the Mountaineers, going to a four-guard lineup along with Culver, scored 12 of the game's next 14 points and never looked back. 
 
"You didn't see the straight-line drives and they had to score the ball over top of us," Huggins said. "And Derek woke up and decided we weren't going to lose the game."
 
The lead got to 21 on a Matthews Jr. layup and then to 27 with 1:15 left when walk-on guard Spencer Macke made two free throws after Dexter McClanahan was whistled for a technical foul.
 
It was the first two collegiate points from Macke, who led the state of Kentucky in scoring last year as a prep senior.

"He's working really hard in practice and for Smacke to be able to showcase some of that hard work it felt good to see because it was deserved," Culver said.
 
Starting guard Jermaine Haley was dressed for today's game but didn't see action. Huggins said afterward that it was his decision not to play Haley.
 
It was another solid all-around game for Arkansas transfer Gabe Osabuohien, who failed to score. The junior grabbed six rebounds, handed out a team-best five assists and got one of West Virginia's five steals in 25 minutes of action off the bench.
 
"He's a great team guy and a great chemistry guy," Huggins said of Osabuohien. "That's why we were so excited to get him and are so thankful to our compliance crew who did a great deal getting the appeal pushed through for us."
 
Junior guard Taz Sherman scored 8 on 3-of-4 shooting and is continuing to shoot better from the floor.
 
Nicholls, which won at Pitt earlier this year and was also competitive in road losses at Illinois, LSU and Rhode Island, got 14 points from Hunter and 12 from forward Elvis Harvey Jr. The Colonels drop to 6-5.
 
Today was the final home game for West Virginia before Christmas. The Youngstown State game next Saturday will take place at the 6,000-seat Covelli Centre in downtown Youngstown and then on Saturday, Dec. 29, the Mountaineers will play undefeated Ohio State at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in downtown Cleveland.
 
The Buckeyes are currently ranked No. 3 in the country with a game coming up tomorrow at Minnesota, and they could rise to No. 2 with a win following Louisville's loss to Texas Tech earlier this week.
 
Ohio State also has games coming up against Southeast Missouri State and Kentucky before the West Virginia game.