WVU Topples Highlanders 72-62, Moves to 6-5

WVU has been shaky to say the last the past couple games including the Oakland win on Dec. 19th in the Oliver Garden. Tonight, the Mountaineers struggled to truly control the game until switching to the 1-3-1 deep into the second half. This caused the Highlanders to give up the ball via turnovers, bad shots, and stagnant offense. While Radford tried and tried again to figure out the 1-3-1, the Mountaineers took advantage with a big performance from Aaric Murray with a double-double via 23 points, 10 rebounds, and three steals for good measure.

On the whole, the game was pretty rough to watch. For a majority of the game, neither team could really start to get into a groove with a total of 46 fouls and 31 turnovers along with both teams shooting percentages in the 40s. This also includes the 6 three pointers made to the 40 taken by both teams.

Something to keep an eye on is Deniz Kilicli's minutes. It felt that he was in all of the first half, but only ended up with 12 minutes for the whole game. This is while Murray totaled 38, Keaton Miles 27, Dom Rutledge 22, and Noreen a mere seven minutes. Either way, WVU moves on with two wins making Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 30th a possible three game winning streak in the Oliver Garden. Keep in mind: WVU needs these wins for winning percentage alone. It goes without saying a loss would be much worse than a win. That said, a little winning confidence never hurt.