Mountaineers Give Huggins 800th Win 112-67

A large crowd saw the Mountaineers cruise past the University of Missouri-Kansas City Kangaroos 112-67. The 2016-2017 version of #PressVirginia caused 20 first half turnovers in route to a 56-24 halftime lead.

Early on UKMC held serve with West Virginia before the Mountaineers turned on the heat. An early 8-8 tie quickly turned into a 25-8 lead only 200 seconds later. Eventually the Mountaineers would go on a 30-2 run extending their lead to 38-10.

Nathan Adrian, Jevon Carter and Brandon Watkins each led the Mountaineers with 8 points each at halftime. The Mountaineer defense held the Kangaroos to 10-21 shooting in the first half including 4 of 11 three-points. West Virginia countered this with 55% shooting (22-40) and 38.9% (7-18) from behind the three line.

The second half wasn’t the turnover fest the first half was. Despite forcing 20 turnovers, halfway through the second half WVU had only forced 2. That didn’t stop the Mountaineers from adding an additional 33 points before the 7:50 media timeout. UMKC settled into a nice pattern, able to break the press and kept pace with the Mountaineers. The Kangaroos were outscored by 32 points at halftime but only by 7 in the second half.

Despite the overwhelming win, WVU only shot 68% from the free throw line. Elijah Macon struggled with free throws, making only 2 of his 5 shots. As a team, the Mountaineers only made 17 of 25 chances. Poor shooting from the charity stripe cost WVU wins last year and allowed lesser teams to stay within striking distance.

Seven players for the Mountaineers scored in double digits, led by forward Nate Adrian and his 13 points.