Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Derek Culver's 18 points and Oscar Tshiebwe's 12-point, 15-rebound double-double powered No. 9 West Virginia to a 73-51 victory over Northeastern in matinee basketball Tuesday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
 
The Huskies had no answer for the Mountaineers' superior size as they scored 50 of their 73 points in the paint. Forward Emmitt Matthews Jr. contributed 13 points and five rebounds to help West Virginia convert 57% of its field goal attempts inside the 3-point arc.
 
"We weren't very consistent," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said afterward. "We didn't rebounded the ball as consistently as we need to, we didn't guard as consistently as we need to and the ball keeps sticking."
 
Beyond it, WVU was just 2-of-21, which is why it was just an eight-point game at halftime and a nine-point game at the first media timeout of the second half.
 
A flurry at the 15-minute mark got the lead to 13 and another one at the nine-minute mark expanded it to 20.
 
And all of it was near the basket.
 
Huggins made an interesting observation during his postgame radio show. When his team makes at least 260 passes in a game it has won all eight. In both of its losses this year to Gonzaga and Kansas, West Virginia made 220 passes or fewer, meaning too much dribbling on the perimeter before jacking up long shot attempts.
 
"We've just got to get them to pass the ball better, and more often," Huggins explained.
 
When the lead finally got to a comfortable margin, Huggins was able to get some of his younger players into the game, which he was unable to do in its first nine games.
 
Jalen Bridges and Kedrian Johnson got nine minutes each, and freshman Taj Thweatt saw six minutes of court time. Unfortunately, Isaiah Cottrell, another freshman Huggins wanted to get extended minutes, suffered a non-contact ankle injury in the first half and did not return.
 
Huggins said on his postgame radio show that he fears Cottrell's injury could be serious. He said he will know more Wednesday morning.
 
"We'll know more after the MRI, but it doesn't look good," Huggins said.
 
The game ended with walk-ons Spencer Macke and Jay Moore getting some rare court time.
 
For Tshiebwe, it was the second double-double for the sophomore this season and the 12^th for his career. Today's effort was closer to the old Oscar Tshiebwe performance we grew accustomed to watching last year.
 
"I've worn Oscar out the last two or three days about being the Oscar of old, and he responded," Huggins said. "He was much more active around the rim. The old Oscar, once he got it in his hands he did good things with it. He and Derek together, they're hard to guard."
 
West Virginia (8-2) limited Northeastern to only 33.3% shooting and forced the Huskies to commit 19 turnovers.
 
Johnson was credited with a team-best three steals in his abbreviated second-half work.
 
Northeastern got a team-best 13 points from Quirin Emanga. Leading scorer Tyson Walker, who came into today's game averaging 17 points, was held to just 10 on four-of-10 shooting.
 
The Huskies drop to 1-5 with today's loss.
 
West Virginia now dives deep into its Big 12 schedule with a 4 p.m. road game at Oklahoma Saturday afternoon in Norman. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.