West Virginia (3-1) was once again led by Kevin Jones’ 23 points en route to their 83-48 win over Morehead State (1-3). Deniz Kilicli and Gary Browne each scored 10 points for the Mountaineers while Truck Bryant added 14 of his own.
The Mountaineers wasted no time getting the jump on the Eagles 20-4, including a 17-0 run in the early going. Morehead State staged a brief comeback attempt as Marsell Holden hit two three-pointers in back-to-back possessions to cut the lead to 25 points. Leading the charge for the Eagles was Terrance Hill who scored a game-high 24 points in the losing effort.
While the Mountaineers won in dominate fashion, there were still some noticeable flaws that Coach Bob Huggins needs to address. One of those is the consistency of Kilicli. At some points of the game, Kilicli establishes himself in the paint and as a defensive force altering shots. At other times however, he can be erratic as seen with his attempt at a no-look pass that left Huggins none too happy. Another glaring concern is the foul shooting for the Mountaineers. West Virginia shot just 19 of 31 (61 percent) from the charity stripe. The young team did go 10 of 10 down the stretch. The Mountaineers as a whole shot 53 percent from the field and forced 23 turnovers.
The also young Morehead State team made news last year whenever they upset Louisville in the NCAA Tournament last year. The team did lose their best player Kenneth Faried to the Denver Nuggets in the NBA draft and it is apparent they haven’t quite figured out how to replace his 17 points per game.
The Mountaineers will enjoy their Thanksgiving holiday before traveling to Akron next Monday. The game against the Zips can be seen on the Big East Network or locally on Root Sports.
Photo Credits: All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks Photo
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