MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — No. 10 West Virginia avoided a letdown against Big 12 bottom-feeder TCU by turning up its defensive pressure in a 73-42 victory on Saturday.
Forward Jonathan Holton scored 14 points in returning from a four-game suspension for West Virginia (20-5, 9-3 in the Big 12), which remained tied for the conference lead with the Oklahoma-Kansas winner later in the day.
Freshman Esa Ahmad added a career-high 14 points, and Devin Williams finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds—his 25th career double-double—as the Mountaineers climbed to 8-0 all-time in the series.
BOXSCORE: West Virginia 73, TCU 42
TCU (11-14, 2-10), among the most turnover-plagued teams in Division I, committed 26 more, matching its season-high.
“It’s fun knowing that Press Virginia is back on track,” said Holton, who fronts the Mountaineers’ full-court defense.
Coach Bob Huggins wanted his defense to rekindle the incessant harassment that was lacking of late. Saturday it forced the most turnovers since a nonleague win over Kennesaw State on Dec. 5.
“We got too passive and we worried about fouls and turning people loose,” Huggins said. “We needed to be more aggressive.”
PHOTOS: West Virginia-TCU gallery
Chauncey Collins scored 20 points but the Horned Frogs shot 33 percent from the floor and 9-of-23 at the foul line.
West Virginia dominated the rebounding 50-35 as TCU played its second game without center Karviar Shepherd (back injury).
“It was men versus boys out there,” said Frogs coach Trent Johnson, whose team fell to 1-32 in Big 12 road games across his four-year tenure. “Anytime you get outrebounded by 15 and you are 9-for-23 from the free-throw line you have no chance.”
Holton made an immediate impact off the West Virginia bench by hitting his first four shots. He finished 6-of-8 with seven rebounds, five assists and two steals in 18 minutes.
Saddled by six turnovers in the opening four minutes, the Frogs never threatened to repeat last year’s effort in Morgantown, where they lost in overtime on Jevon Carter’s last-second free throws.
Trailing 41-22 at the half, TCU had almost as many turnovers (15) as shot attempts (20).
Johnson said TCU showed impatience by trying to lob home-run passes over the press and he called the Mountaineers “too explosive, too quick, too deep” for that to work.
The 43 points were the fewest allowed by West Virginia in 51 games dating back to 2014.
Though Williams got the nine points needed to reach the career 1,000 mark, he admitted he tends to count rebounds more than scoring. The junior now stands at 738 boards.
“I’m the guy who comes in and tries to clean up,” he said.
West Virginia cleaned up despite Williams’ 3-of-11 shooting. Jaysean Paige, who reached 10 points in garbage time for his seventh straight double-figure output, also struggled to 3-of-10.
The Mountaineers’ defense was so disruptive it hardly mattered they shot only 37 percent overall and 4-of-16 from 3-point range. Carter finished 0-of-3 on 3s, extending his slump to 3-for-31 over nine games.