Mountaineers squash Frogs 81-49

West Virginia handed TCU its first conference loss of the season with a devastating two-way performance, winning by a score of 81-49.

The Mountaineers were a bit sloppy for the game's opening six minutes, but finally got out of first gear following a classic Huggins line change that saw the all five starters give way to Duece McBribe, Brandon Knapper, Chase Harler, Gabe Osabouhien, and Logan Routt around the 14-minute mark. Osabouhien and McBride immediately upped the intensity on D while Knapper and Harler got things going on the other end, and a quick 8-2 run put the 'Eers up 15-11 heading into the 12-minute media timeout.

The lead was stretched to 23-11 following a pair of blocks from Culver and Oscar that were converted into transition buckets on the other end before Desmond Bane finally silenced the crowd with a 3. The Frogs continued to ham and egg their way to some buckets for the remainder of the half, but 26 bench points and a 19-10 rebounding advantage saw the Mountaineers up 37-23 heading into the break.

West Virginia continued to press their size advantage out of halftime, weathering some hot early shooting from TCU by continuing to crash the offensive glass and feed Tshiebwe and Culver inside. The Frogs eventually started to falter under the Mountaineers overwhelming physicality, and the Old Gold and Blue were able to push the lead out to 61-38 by the 11:37 mark.

The last 10ish minutes turned into a bit of a slog with both teams finding their way into the double bonus before the 6-minute mark, but at no point was the outcome in question.

As expected considering the margin of victory, the Mountaineers got positive contributions from just about everyone who played meaningful minutes. Derek Culver was particularly in the mood and led the way for West Virginia, following his 22-21 performance against TCU last year with a dominant 17 point, 11 rebound performance. Oscar Tshiebwe and Deuce McBride both hit double digits, as well, and Jermaine Haley was finally able to break his duck with a solid 11-point outing.

The defense was its customarily suffocating self, forcing the Frogs into 20 turnovers while holding them to a putrid 32% from the field. Gabe Osabouhien was again the standout on that end, drawing a pair of charges and generally making a nuisance of himself.

The Mountaineers return to action on Saturday at 2pm, travelling to the Little Apple to take on the K-State Wildcats.