Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia got 27 points from Taz Sherman and 19 from Sean McNeil to down pesky Kent State 63-50 here at the WVU Coliseum late Sunday afternoon.
 
It's the sixth time in 10 games this year Sherman has scored more than 20 points, including his last three against Radford, Connecticut and Kent State.
 
"Taz was Taz," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "He made big shots for us."
 
The Mountaineers used a 14-0 run during a four-minute stretch in the second half to turn a three-point lead into a 17-point advantage. During the run, Kent State coach Rob Senderoff saw his afternoon come to an abrupt conclusion when he was whistled for two technical fouls after Gabe Osabuohien took the ball away from Justyn Hamilton.
 
Senderoff came out onto the floor to get his first technical from Hartness and his second one from came from Gary Maxwell when he continued to argue.
 
Sean McNeil made all four free throws, which was somewhat of a revelation from a team that missed 15 of 27 in Wednesday night's victory over No. 15 Connecticut. Today, WVU was a little better at the line making 13 of 24, but was only 7 of 17 before McNeil's four technical free throws.
 
"All we're going to do tomorrow is shoot free throws," Huggins said.
 
Kent State, the nation's No. 1-ranked free throw shooting team making 83.5% entering today's game, was just 8 of 13 so whatever is plaguing WVU must be spreading.
 
The Mountaineers turned the ball over 16 times.
 
West Virginia continues to show improvement on the glass, out-rebounding the Golden Flashes 38 to 31 with forward Jalen Bridges pulling down a team-best seven.
 
Pauly Paulicap didn't score today, but when he came into the game in the second half he once again gave the team great energy with a couple of blocks and five rebounds.
 
"I thought the blocks he made in the second half really turned the game around," Huggins said.
 
The Mountaineers limited Kent State (5-4) to just 19 of 55 shooting for 34.5%, including 4 of 18 from 3 for 22.2%.
 
"We've put more emphasis on individual defense," Huggins said. "We're doing individual defense 20, 25 minutes a practice trying to make sure we're staying in front of people and other fundamental things so hopefully that has helped and made a difference.
 
"I guess we're going to have to do the same thing with passing because, man, we passed it bad today," Huggins added.
 
West Virginia had a 25-22 lead at halftime.
 
Sherman was 9 of 14 from the floor and also handed out three assists. Nine of West Virginia's 10 assists for the game came in the second half.
 
"We didn't run any offense in the first half," Huggins said. "Whoever got it either got stuck with it or had to get bailed out by a teammate to get rid of the ball. How many times did we go to the end of the shot clock? We just didn't pass the ball."
 
McNeil's stat line included 6 of 11 from the floor, 2 of 4 from 3 and he was 5 of 7 from the free throw line. The rest of the team contributed just 17 points.
 
Sincere Carry, a Duquesne transfer, led the Golden Flashes with 18 points on 7 of 15 shooting. Hamilton was the only other Kent State player to reach double figures with 10.
 
"They're good," Huggins said of the Golden Flashes. "They're going to be toward the top or at the top of the MAC when the season is over. I couldn't convince our guys they are for real."
 
A Family Day crowd of 11,532 watched today's game.
 
West Virginia boosts its record to 9-1 with the victory and will go on the road to play Alabama-Birmingham next Saturday at 5 p.m. at 17,600-seat Legacy Arena in downtown Birmingham. Huggins said the game is being played because of his past relationship with UAB coach Andy Kennedy, a former assistant coach on Huggins' Cincinnati staff.
 
The game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.