National Basketball Association
West Virginia 87, Mount St. Mary's 59
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, November 11, 2016
Where: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia
Officials:
# Ray Natali, # Gerry Pollard, # Tommy Short
Attendance:
10510
By The Sports Xchange
Nathan Adrian scored 13 points to lead No. 20 West Virginia to a season-opening 87-59 victory over visiting Mount St. Mary's on Friday night at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, W.Va.
Sagaba Konate had 11 points and six rebounds for West Virginia (1-0). Jevon Carter had 10 points.
Greg Alexander scored 15 points for Mount St. Mary's (0-1). Elijah Long had 14 points and Miles Wilson had 11.
West Virginia jumped out to a 7-0 lead over the first 2:11 and never trailed. WVU went up 17-6 on a layup by Adrian, took a 21-8 lead on a basket by Teyvon Myers midway through the first half and led by 20 late in the half.
West Virginia shot 56.3 percent from the field in the first half despite making just 1 of 7 from 3-point range. Mount St. Mary's shot just 25 percent, making 7 of 28 from the floor.
West Virginia maintained a comfortable lead throughout the second half. WVU took a 46-25 lead on a dunk by Elijah Macon early in the second half and extended its advantage to 22 points moments later.
Mount St. Mary's cut the deficit to 17 on a 3-point by Alexander, but WVU fended off the charge and led by as many as 30 late in the game.
Despite the margin of victory, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, now eight wins shy of 800 career victories, said he wasn't overly impressed with his team's performance. Huggins noted that the Mountaineers made just 17 of 29 free throws and committed 13 turnovers.
"Generally, when you miss free throws the way we missed free throws and you are as careless with the ball the way we were today, you're not really ready to play," Huggins said. "We just weren't very good."
Eleven players logged double-digit minutes and eight scored seven points or more. Huggins was pleased by the play of Konate, a freshman who made his West Virginia debut.
Konate is a three-star prospect who picked West Virginia over Pitt. Originally from Bamako, Mali, Konate played at Kennedy Catholic High School in Hermitage, Pa. He has good size at 6 feet 8 and 250 pounds, possesses good defensive instincts, attacks the basket and appears to have a good midrange jump shot.
"I was really encouraged with Sags," Huggins said. "I thought Sags played really well. (He) protects the basket, he rebounds the ball (and) he catches the ball, so I was happy with him."
Maciej Bender, a 6-10 freshman and another three-star prospect, was quiet in his WVU debut. Bender was held scoreless and grabbed only one rebound in nine minutes off the bench.
West Virginia forced 21 turnovers and scored 26 points off turnovers. WVU shot 47.8 percent from the field, made 6 of 18 from 3-point range and amassed a huge 42-27 rebounding advantage.
Mount St. Mary's shot 35.2 percent from the field and made 7 of 24 from beyond the arc.
Mount St. Mary's never threatened to make the game close in the second half, but Huggins wasn't happy with his team's intensity late in the game.
"I was extremely disappointed in the second half with the pressure when they just kept driving down and shooting layups," Huggins said. "That hasn't happened in two years and now all of a sudden with this group it's happening."
West Virginia improved to 49-4 in nonconference games since Huggins returned to his alma mater in 2008.
NOTES: West Virginia was picked to finish second behind Kansas in the Big 12 Conference coaches' poll. ... Mount St. Mary's was picked to finish first in the Northeast Conference. ... Both teams are known as the Mountaineers. ... West Virginia G Dax Miles Jr. is recovering from the flu and did not play.
Top Game Performances
| Mount St. Mary's |
|
West Virginia |
|
Greg Alexander 15 |
Scoring |
Nathan Adrian 13 |
|
Elijah Long 4 |
Assists |
Nathan Adrian 3 |
|
Elijah Long 5 |
Rebounds |
Brandon Watkins 8 |
|
Elijah Long 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Sagaba Konate 5 |
|
Greg Alexander 2 |
Steals |
Maciej Bender 1 |
|
Greg Alexander 2 |
Blocks |
Elijah Macon 3 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Mount St. Mary's
|
59 |
35.2 |
7-24 |
14-20 |
10 |
27 |
5 |
6 |
21 |
| West Virginia
|
87 |
47.8 |
6-18 |
17-29 |
12 |
42 |
7 |
6 |
13 |
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