MORGANTOWN — Several words were bounced around the WVU Coliseum on Friday night as West Virginia defeated the University of ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä 94-61 in a men’s basketball exhibition game.
“New†and “uncertain†were just a couple of terms used by a pair of first-year coaches to describe their teams.
The Mountaineers’ Darian DeVries is in a total rebuild of a roster as he welcomed just one player back that contributed last year, while Golden Eagles coach James Long has the luxury of four returning players from last year’s NCAA Division II tournament team and Mountain East Conference champions.
West Virginia had a quick start, jumping out to a 17-3 lead with 14:41 to go in the first half as Oklahoma State transfer guard Javon Small connected with his second 3-pointer of the night.
West Virginia used a tough, physical defense to force the Golden Eagles into 11 first-half turnovers while shooting 18 of 34 (53%) from the field and 7 of 16 (44%) from behind the arc to take a 50-29 lead into halftime.
Small led all scorers at the break with 11 points, while Drake transfer guard Tucker DeVries contributed nine points.
ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä tried to keep pace behind the scoring of senior guard CJ Meredith’s eight first-half points, while freshman Matt Shelton added seven. The Golden Eagles finished the opening half shooting 10 of 30 (33%) from the field while outrebounding the Mountaineers 18-16.
West Virginia and ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä traded baskets to start the second half, including a thunderous two-handed dunk by Shelton to cut the Mountaineers’ lead to 58-35. But West Virginia’s defense continued to create turnovers as the Mountaineers pushed the lead to 71-44 with 8:42 in the second half.
ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä cut the lead to 76-56 on two free throws from Shelton at the 5:58 mark, but the Mountaineers smashed any hopes of a comeback as they went on a 9-0 run, capped by an Ofri Naveh 3-pointer to push the lead out to 85-56 with 3:28 in the game.
Long praised the Mountaineers’ on-ball defense.
“You’re not going to see that physicality again this year,†Long said. “But did we get better today? I think we did.â€
Long also praised the Golden Eagles for stepping into a great opportunity and not backing down.
“First half was different from the second half,†he said. “We were winning the second half and just died down a little bit. But we just had our 10th practice yesterday and we’re still getting in shape, and to be able to come in and play hard is an awesome opportunity.â€
ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä finished 21 of 53 (39.6%) from the field while shooting 7 of 22 (32%) from behind the arc and 12 of 17 (71%) from the foul line. The Golden Eagles had four players in double digits as Meredith finished with a team-high 13 points. Shelton and senior forward Obinna Ugwuakazi added 11 points apiece, and senior guard Keaton Turner supplied 10.
Mountaineer guard Tucker DeVries finished with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, while Amani Hansberry, Small and Jonathan Powell each contributed 11 points.
West Virginia finished the night shooting 34 of 72 (47.2%) from the field, 11 of 33 from behind the 3-point line and 15 of 16 from the foul line. The Mountaineers outrebounded the Golden Eagles 38-34.
ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä will open its regular season on Nov. 8 as it hosts California (Pennsylvania) in the MEC/PSAC Tip-Off Challenge inside the Wehrle Innovation Center.
West Virginia will open its regular season on Nov. 4 as the Mountaineers welcome Robert Morris to the WVU Coliseum.
