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CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia raced out to a 19-point advantage less than 12 minutes into Tuesday night’s contest and never looked back in an 83-48 victory over Morehead State before a crowd of 10,122 at the Civic Center.
The Big East Conference Mountaineers improve to 3-1 on the season, while the Ohio Valley Conference Eagles fall to 1-3. WVU also improves to 3-0 in the all-time series against MSU.
“We were bad all the way around tonight, but credit West Virginia,” Morehead State Head Coach Donnie Tyndall said. “WVU completely took us out of our game plan. They were bigger, stronger and more physical than us. They also forced turnovers and got second shots.”
West Virginia senior Kevin Jones tallied the only double-double for either team with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Darryl Bryant added 14 points for the Mountaineers, while junior Deniz Kilicli and freshman Gary Browne contributed 10 apiece.
WVU shot 53 percent (28-of-53) from the field, while limiting Morehead State to 38 percent (18-of-47). The Mountaineers got to the free-throw line 31 times as a result of 26 MSU fouls, while the Eagles had just five attempts from the charity stripe.
West Virginia posted advantages of 40-22 in rebounding, 19-9 in assists, 28-14 in bench points, 28-16 in paint points and 18-3 in second-chance points. The Mountaineers also forced 19 turnovers, while committing just nine.
“One thing we can control is putting a body into the opponent on the rebound, and we did a very poor job of that tonight,” Tyndall said. “It’s my job to make sure we do a better job in that area. I’m not discouraged, just disappointed.”
Senior Terrance Hill was the only Morehead State player to crack double figures. He scored a career-high 24 points on 8-of-16 from the floor, including 6-of-11 from long range.
Junior Milton Chavis posted a team-high six rebounds for the Eagles, while freshman DeAndre Mathieu and senior Lamont Austin were credited with three assists each.
West Virginia led 39-22 at intermission. The Mountaineers then started the second half on a 25-9 run to put the game out of reach. WVU’s biggest lead, 37 points, came with 3:07 remaining.
Morehead State continues its five-game road trip with a three-game tournament at Bucknell over Thanksgiving weekend. The Eagles open against West Alabama on Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
“We have a long way to go and it’s going to take hard work by everyone in the program,” Tyndall added. “We will watch the tape, get back to the practice floor and focus on getting better.”
