The West Virginia Mountaineers kicked off the 2016-2017 season tonight in Morgantown, cruising to a 87-59 victory over the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers.
Nate Adrian led the Mountaineers with 13 points. Freshman Sagaba Konate only saw one minute of action in the first half, but came away with 11 points and six rebounds after getting 11 minutes in the second half. Jovon Carter added ten points, while Lamont West went for seven points and eight rebounds and Brandon Watkins finished with nine points and eight rebounds. All 13 players that dressed for the game saw action for the Mountaineers, showing off the depth on the team. Eight of the 13 finished with at least seven points.
Press Virginia also looked as strong as ever, forcing Mount St. Mary’s to turn the ball over 21 times in the game. Elijah Long, the starting guard for Mount St. Mary’s committed eight of those turnovers. West Virginia also capitalized on rebounds, scoring 20 second chance points to Mount St. Mary’s eight.
For those wondering, Daxter Miles Jr. did not play tonight due to the flu. Tarik Philip started in Daxter’s place.
One potentially concerning stat, as usual, is West Virginia’s free throw percentage. The Mountaineers finished 17-29 (59%) from the charity stripe.