No. 20 West Virginia beats Marshall 86-68

By foxsports
Published

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) West Virginia pushed the tempo until it eventually wore down Marshall.

Jevon Carter scored 15 points and No. 20 West Virginia used its superior depth to beat the Thundering Herd 86-68 on Thursday night.

West Virginia (9-1) took control with a 16-1 run early in the second half to beat its intrastate rival for the fifth straight year and for the ninth time in 10 tries.

''We sped them up,'' Carter said. ''They started missing shots, started getting tired. They had people cramping. I just think they weren't used to our style.

''We knew that when we got up, we had to put them away.''

Daxter Miles Jr. added 14 points, Elijah Macon had 12, and Tarik Phillip 11 for the Mountaineers.

Ryan Taylor led Marshall (3-7) with 15 points. Jon Elmore added 14, and James Kelly had 11.

Kelly, Marshall's leading scorer, went to the bench with a left knee injury early in the second half. He returned six minutes later still limping.

The Thundering Herd went nearly eight minutes between baskets and the turnovers started to pile up.

West Virginia leads the country in offensive rebounds at 18 per game and got plenty of second chances against Marshall.

The Mountaineers made four baskets off of rebounds during the key run, including Nathan Adrian's putback for a 53-39 lead with 10:50 left.

West Virginia's lead grew to as many as 23 points down the stretch.

''We came out at halftime, we were supposed to throw it inside more than what we threw it inside the first half,'' said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. ''We finally made some shots and they didn't.''

The Mountaineers' Devin Williams was held to nine points, the first time this season he failed to reach double digits. He spent most of the game in foul trouble.

Although Macon made 2 of 6 free throws, the sophomore hit 5 of 8 field goals in Williams' place.

''That's probably as well as he's played,'' said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins.

Marshall, which has eight freshmen and sophomores in its lineup, had won three straight.

''These kids did all they could do,'' Marshall coach Dan D'Antoni said. ''There's nothing to go home and pout about.''

Marshall made half of its 12 3-point tries over the first 13 minutes to jump ahead 26-21. But Marshall couldn't sustain any production from its reserves, especially when Kelly and Taylor were out of the game in foul trouble. West Virginia held a 38-12 advantage in bench points.

West Virginia went on a 7-0 run late in the half and took a 35-32 lead at halftime.

TIP-INS:

West Virginia: West Virginia outrebounded Marshall 48-32, including 22 on the offensive end. ... West Virginia shot 20 of 35 from the free-throw line. ... The Mountaineers matched their 9-1 start of last season, when they finished 25-10.

Marshall: Taylor became the 50th Thundering Herd player to surpass 1,000 points. .. Marshall missed its last 15 3-point attempts.

GOOD IN CHARLESTON

Carter, a sophomore, has averaged 17 points in five career games at the Charleston Civic Center.

UP NEXT:

West Virginia: Home against Eastern Kentucky on Monday.

Marshall: Plays Wyoming in Las Vegas on Monday.