National Basketball Association
West Virginia 73, Texas Christian 42
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 13, 2016
Where: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia
Officials:
# Joe DeRosa, # Jeb Hartness, # Michael Stephens
Attendance:
13137
By The Sports Xchange
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Any concerns of a letdown coming from No. 10 West Virginia on Saturday against Big 12 bottom-feeder TCU were quickly dismissed.
The Mountaineers avoided any possible disappointment by turning up their defensive pressure in a 73-42 victory over the Horned Frogs.
Forward Jonathan Holton scored 14 points in returning from a four-game suspension for West Virginia (20-5, 9-3 Big 12), which remained tied for the conference lead with the Oklahoma-Kansas winner later Saturday.
Freshman forward Esa Ahmad added a career-high 14 points, and forward Devin Williams finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds -- his 25th career double-double -- as the Mountaineers climbed to 8-0 all-time in the series.
TCU (11-14, 2-10), among the most turnover-plagued teams in Division I, committed 26 more, matching its season-high.
"It's fun knowing that Press Virginia is back on track," said Holton, who fronts the Mountaineers' full-court defense.
Coach Bob Huggins wanted his defense to rekindle the incessant harassment that was lacking of late. Saturday it forced the most turnovers since a nonleague win over Kennesaw State on Dec. 5.
"We got too passive and we worried about fouls and turning people loose," Huggins said. "We needed to be more aggressive."
Guard Chauncey Collins scored 20 points but the Horned Frogs shot 33 percent from the floor and 9 of 23 at the foul line.
West Virginia dominated the rebounding 50-35.
"It was men versus boys out there," said TCU coach Trent Johnson. "Anytime you get outrebounded by 15 and you are 9-for-23 from the free-throw line you have no chance."
Holton made an immediate impact off the West Virginia bench by hitting his first four shots. He finished with seven rebounds, five assists and two steals in 19 minutes.
Saddled by six turnovers in the opening four minutes, the Frogs never threatened to repeat last year's effort in Morgantown, where they lost in overtime on guard Jevon Carter's last-second free throws.
Trailing 41-22 at the half, TCU had almost as many turnovers (15) as shot attempts (20).
Johnson said TCU showed impatience by trying to throw home-run passes over the press and he called the Mountaineers "too explosive, too quick, too deep" for that to work.
The 43 points were the fewest allowed by West Virginia in 51 games dating back to 2014.
Though Williams got the nine points needed to reach the career 1,000 mark, he admitted he tends to count rebounds more than scoring. The junior has 738 boards.
"I'm the guy who comes in and tries to clean up," he said.
NOTES: West Virginia coasted despite a 3-of-10 shooting night by G Jaysean Paige, who reached 10 points in garbage time for his seventh straight double-figure output. ... TCU fell to 1-12 vs. the RPI top 100 this season and 1-32 in Big 12 road games over four years. ... West Virginia G Jevon Carter was 0 of 3 from 3-point range, part of a 3-for-31 slump over nine games. ... TCU played its second game without C Karviar Shepherd (back injury).
Top Game Performances
| Texas Christian |
|
West Virginia |
|
Chauncey Collins 20 |
Scoring |
Esa Ahmad 14 |
|
Malique Trent 3 |
Assists |
Jonathan Holton 5 |
|
Chris Washburn 9 |
Rebounds |
Devin Williams 13 |
|
Chauncey Collins 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Esa Ahmad 6 |
|
Malique Trent 4 |
Steals |
Jaysean Paige 4 |
|
Devonta Abron 2 |
Blocks |
Jaysean Paige 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Texas Christian
|
42 |
33.3 |
3-8 |
9-23 |
10 |
35 |
5 |
6 |
26 |
| West Virginia
|
73 |
37.5 |
4-16 |
21-34 |
14 |
48 |
2 |
15 |
11 |
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