Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Xander Rice's game-high 30 points led Monmouth to a 73-65 victory over West Virginia tonight at the WVU Coliseum.
 
Monmouth, 1-1, used a 2-3 zone defense to stymie an undermanned Mountaineer team that missed 25 of their 32 attempts from behind the 3-point arc. West Virginia, 1-1, suffered from frigid first-half shooting in its season-opening victory over Missouri State.

Tonight, it was both halves.
 
The only West Virginia player making a reasonable amount of his shot attempts was Jesse Edwards, the forward connecting on 6-of-11, but he was double- and triple-teamed whenever he got the basketball close to the goal. His teammates were not nearly as efficient. Josiah Harris was 1-of-12, Quinn Slazinski was 6-of-16, Kobe Johnson was 4-for-11, Seth Wilson was 3-for-11 and Ofri Naveh was 1-for-5 from the floor.
 
"Our execution offensively wasn't perfect by any means, but it seemed like we were getting pretty good shots and they just weren't falling," West Virginia coach Josh Eilert said. "You don't want to harp on it too much, but we struggled to get that thing over the rim once our legs got a little bit gassed, and that has a lot to do with shooting that basketball."
 
Forward Pat Suemnick did not attempt a shot in four minutes of court time and guard Jeremiah Bembry missed his only field goal try in three minutes of action.
 
"We're definitely struggling with a lack of depth trying to keep fresh legs out there," Eilert said afterward. "When you don't have fresh legs, it's definitely going to be a struggle."
 
After leading 33-32 at halftime, the game turned early in the second half when the Hawks chose to stay in their 2-3 zone. West Virginia committed only 10 turnovers, but a couple of them were critical in live-ball situations that resulted in easy Monmouth baskets.
 
Johnson lost the ball while trying to make a spin move to the basket, leading to Rice's transition 3 at the other end. Instead of a two-point deficit or potentially a tie game if West Virginia scores, Monmouth came out of that sequence leading 52-47. Moments later, Slazinski lost possession of the ball after taking it away from Abdi Bashir Jr. and Nikita Konstantynovskyi picked it up at the free throw line and took it to the basket for a dunk. That score gave Monmouth a 56-49 lead.
 
The Hawks' advantage swelled to 13 with 3:59 left and again to 13 with 2:58 to go.
 
Wilson gave West Virginia some hope when he hit a transition 3 with 41 seconds left to cut Monmouth's lead to 69-65, but Rice answered with two free throws and then Jakari Spence got two more to go down with 19 seconds left.
 
The Mountaineers had no answer for Rice, who exploded for 20 points after intermission. Jack Collins contributed 17 for the Hawks, who outscored West Virginia 28-to-8 in fastbreak points against a Mountaineer team that primarily used just six players.
 
"We've got to be careful how we rep it in practice with such a short bench, but we've got to figure how to get matched up in transition," Eilert said. "We had so many critical turnovers right when the game was starting to turn our way. We turned it over and gave them easy buckets."
 
Edwards paced West Virginia with 16 points and 13 rebounds, his second double-double of the season, while Slazinski added 15. Johnson scored 13 while Wilson ended the game with 10.
 
West Virginia missed 12 of its final 15 field goal attempts. A crowd of 10,473 was announced for tonight's game.
 
West Virginia has a quick turnaround with Jacksonville State coming to Morgantown for a Tuesday night game at the Coliseum.