SAN DIEGO — West Virginia took “Hillbilly Ball” to the woodshed.
Behind a dominant rebounding performance and Jevon Carter’s 28 points, the Mountaineers clinched another trip to the Sweet 16 by overwhelming Marshall 94-71 on Sunday night in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Fifth-seeded West Virginia (26-10), which built a 31-point lead in the second half, will face the East Region’s top seed Villanova in Boston.
“We are just happy to keep playing,” Carter said. “This is March. This is what we came to do. We don’t just want to go to the Sweet 16. We want to win it all.”
Meanwhile, 13th-seeded Marshall (25-11) exits with the accomplishment of its first NCAA victory, and the sour taste of a blowout loss to its in-state rival.
BOXSCORE: West Virginia 94, Marshall 71
Dan D’Antoni’s free-flowing, quick-shooting spread offense — dubbed “Hillbilly Ball” by the 70-year-old Marshall coach — managed a season-worst 22 field goals and shot 39 percent, unable to rattle the Mountaineers.
“Our ball movement wasn’t good enough, and we weren’t cutting hard enough,” D’Antoni said. “Against some teams you can kind of jog over to where you want to be. Can’t do that with West Virginia.”
Lamont West buried two early 3s to break a three-game scoreless drought and finished with 18 points. The 6-foot-8 wing also snatched a career-high 10 rebounds as part of West Virginia’s 40-24 edge on the boards.
“We thought that was our advantage coming in,” coach Bob Huggins said.
“We’ll probably have to get in the weight room,” D’Antoni countered.
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Headed back to the Sweet 16 for the third time in four seasons, the Mountaineers also got 11 points from Beetle Bolden off the bench, while forward Esa Ahmad contributed 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
“We know it’s a long road,” Ahmad said. “We’ll enjoy this, but we’re looking forward to our next win.”
Carter has been a part of of 105 wins at West Virginia. As usual, he played the catalyst on both ends of the court.
His huge scoring night, combined with five assists and five steals, made Carter the first player in the NCAA tournament with a 28/5/5 stat line since Georgetown’s Allen Iverson.
Carter needed only five seconds to break the ice, scoring off the opening tip, and he left more marks from deep, finishing with 5-of-7 shooting from 3.
“He has dominated the game on the defensive end, but now he’s starting to do it on the offensive end,” WVU assistant Larry Harrison said. “He’s starting to plays like an All-American.”
Carter outplayed Marshall guard Jon Elmore, the nation’s ninth-leading scorer at 22.9 per game, who settled for 15 points while committing a career-worst eight turnovers.
A cadre of defenders led by Carter used ball-denying tactics that prevented Elmore from influencing many possessions.
“They’re a heck of a team. They get after it,” Elmore said. “I think their physicality got to us a little bit. They’ve got quick hands, ride you up the floor. They defend, trap, run all different kinds of guys at you.”
Elmore extended his string of consecutive double-digit scoring games to 71 and broke Skip Henderson’s single-season school scoring record, but couldn’t prevent Marshall from losing its six consecutive meeting against WVU.
Ajdin Penava had 18 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Herd, which returns most of its rotation next season. C.J. Burks scored 12 points, albeit on 3-of-15 shooting.
After ambushing Wichita State in the opener, Marshall kept its upset mojo working early. Elmore’s first 3-point attempt sat on the back of the rim before falling in, and when Penava and Jannsen Williams followed with wide-open 3s of their own, the Herd seemed cocked and comfortable.
Soon, reserve forward Darius George paired a corner 3 with an acrobatic putback as the Herd led 20-15.
Over the half’s final 10:52, however, the offense dried up amid seven turnovers and 1-of-13 shooting. That coincided with Press Virginia modifying its full-court defense into a three-quarters court version. The rotations turned crisp and Marshall’s open looks became scarce.
“Instead of trapping in the backcourt we trapped in the halfcourt,” Harrison said. “I don’t know if they’re used to playing teams that are as long and athletic as we were.”
The drought provided West Virginia a window to take control, which it did with a 27-5 burst. Carter’s twisting layup 1 second before the half made it a 42-25 margin.
“We ran into a very good West Virginia team,” D’Antoni said. “They should be proud of the way they played. Carter is an exceptional player. He determines a lot of things out there. Very strong. I congratulated him and told him how good he was.”