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The Mountaineers kicked off the 2015-16 season in style with a dominating 107-61 victory over the Northern Kentucky Norse on Friday night at the WVU Coliseum.
West Virginia (1-0) scored the first 7 points and never looked back. They outscored the Norse by 30 in the first half and 16 in the second half, a period controlled by the referees.
The leading scorer was Jevon Carter, who had 24 points, 6 assists, and 5 steals. Daxter Miles added 19 points and 4 steals. Devin Williams (18 and 15) and Jonathan Holton (14 and 12) both pitched in with double-doubles.
Freshman Esa Ahmad had a fairly quiet first half, but was more active in the second, and had this nice block:
Northern Kentucky was led in scoring by Tyler White with 17.
West Virginia forced 30 turnovers and only committed 15. They shot 48.5% overall and 76.1% from the line on FORTY-SIX ATTEMPTS.
On to the notes:
- Starters: Jevon Carter, Daxter Miles, Esa Ahmad, Jonathan Holton, Devin Williams.
- Tonight was the 500th win all-time at the WVU Coliseum. The building opened on December 1st, 1970 when the Mountaineers defeated Colgate 113-92.
- I say this every time they call a game, but for me it does not get any better than the announcing duo of Rob King and Warren Baker. Those two have great chemistry and are leaps and bounds better than most national crews.
- Nearly 9 minutes of action passed before Devin Williams got his first bucket. In the future I'd expect them to try to get him more involved early, especially against better competition. That is, if there is anyone that can make that entry pass consistently.
- The refs had a super quick whistle tonight. The plan is to call the game tighter this year, but as the season goes on things will slowly go back to how they've always been.
- Announced attendance: 10,120.
West Virginia returns to action on Monday, November 16th when they take on James Madison at the Charleston Civic Center. The game tips at 7:00 PM and will be televised by ROOT Sports.