Mountaineers hammer George Mason 91-65 in Puerto Rico opener

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – Devin Williams compiled 16 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes and West Virginia hounded George Mason into 24 turnovers during a 91-65 romp at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

Jonathan Holton added 16 points, Juwan Staten tacked on 13, and 11 players scored for the Mountaineers (3-0), who cruised into a second-round matchup against Boston College.

Williams recorded his third consecutive double-double and the 11th of his 36-game career.

“Devin was good, but I want him to be great,” coach Bob Huggins said. “He was good, but Devin can be so much better and that’s what I want for him. Sometimes he doesn’t understand why I’m upset with him, but I’m upset with him because I know how good he can be.”

BOXSCORE: West Virginia 91, George Mason 65

Elijah Macon and hometown product Gary Browne each scored nine points off the bench, freshman Jevan Carter contributed seven points and three steals, and walk-on Chase Connor buried both of his 3-point attempts. West Virginia built a 31-point lead in the second half, though Huggins still found the execution lacking at times.

“I thought we played very well for a stretch and got a big lead, but then we relaxed and didn’t play very well,” he said. “We started looking for shots and not looking to score—which is something you can do subconsciously when you get a big lead. From then on we didn’t play well.”

Patrick Holloway scored 17 and Shevon Thompson added 14 points for George Mason (1-2), which was picked near the cellar of the Atlantic 10 Conference. Overmatched on the boards and harassed into bad passes, the Patriots made a prophet of coach Paul Hewitt.

“Two things we were talking about before the game were keeping them from offensive rebounds and holding down our turnovers,” Hewitt said. “They dominated, forcing 24 turnovers, and they got 19 offensive rebounds and that’s pretty much the game.”

The outcome might have been less lopsided had George Mason capitalized on West Virginia’s Holton, Macon and Nathan Adrian each piling up four fouls. Instead, the Patriots languished through 16-of-32 free-throw shooting.

The Mountaineers hadn’t started a season with three straight wins since November 2010, when coincidentally they dropped their fourth game to Minnesota, in the final of this same Puerto Rico event.

Hewitt suggested this West Virginia squad could leave the Coliseo Roberto Clemente with a title.

“They’re very good,” he said. ” I don’t know what Coach Huggins will say, but from our perspective, they played very good tonight. They were much sharper than us and every mistake we made, they capitalized on it.”

FRIDAY’S GAME

West Virginia (3-0) vs. Boston College (2-1)

Tip-off: 6 p.m. Eastern on ESPNU

Scouting Boston College: On Thursday, the Eagles upset New Mexico 69-65 behind 20 points from Olivier Hanlan and 16 from Aaron Brown. … Former Ohio University and TCU coach Jim Christian inherited a team that was picked next to last in the ACC. Before coming to the Puerto Rico tournament, Boston College split home games by beating New Hampshire 58-50 and losing to UMass 71-62.

Prediction: West Virginia wins 64-60





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