MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In the final non-conference game this season, it was as expected for West Virginia, which handled business in an 86-51 victory against Mississippi Valley State on Monday night at Hope Coliseum.
“Our guys did a good job of honoring the game, respecting the game and played the game the right way and played unselfish basketball,” WVU head coach Ross Hodge said. “Outside of a stretch from the 15 to 10 minute mark of the first half, felt like we played a pretty solid game.”
The contest was competitive for the first 13 minutes or so, during which time the Delta Devils (1-12) hung in thanks in large part to effective zone defense that took away the Mountaineers’ rhythm and limited possessions as a whole.
After falling behind 7-0, MVSU outscored the Mountaineers 12-8 over the next 9 minutes and were to within three when Michael James scored outside the paint with 8:34 to play in the opening half.
But West Virginia (9-4) outscored the Delta Devils 27-10 over the remainder of the half to create comfortable separation.
True freshmen DJ Thomas and Amir Jenkins combined for nine straight WVU points, seven of which Thomas accounted for, to help up the advantage to 23-14.
Jenkins followed with a pair of three-pointers over a stretch of 1:28, the latter of which left the Mountaineers with a 34-16 advantage, and they’d settle for a 42-22 halftime lead.
“You don’t want to give them hope,” Hodge said, “because the longer you give them hope that maybe this is the night, you can find yourself in a dogfight.”
Jenkins led all players with 10 first-half points on 3-for-3 shooting, while Thomas scored nine and made 3-of-4 shots.
WVU started the second half much like it finished the first, scoring 13 unanswered points after James accounted for the opening bucket of the second half in the paint. Harlan Obioha scored the first five of those 13 and seven altogether, while Treysen Eaglestaff added triples on consecutive possessions.
It was a sign of things to come for Eaglestaff, who scored 20 of his game-high 23 points after halftime. That’s when the Delta Devils switched from zone to man-to-man defense, while Eaglestaff shot 8 for 12 in the second half and 9 for 16 overall.
“At the end of the [first] half, I threw up a flick shot and [Hodge] was not happy about that,” Eaglestaff said. “I knew I needed to be stronger with the ball, especially in the paint. They’re a division I team, so I can’t just throw it at the rim. The second half, I just played basketball and enjoyed myself.”
Hodge felt Eaglestaff was more sure of himself over the latter 20 minutes.
“I didn’t see a lot of indecision in the second half,” Hodge said. “He was very decisive and very aggressive. He was shooting the right shots and got into the paint and finished with some physicality and authority.“
Four other Mountaineers scored in double figures — Honor Huff (13), Obioha (12), Thomas (11) and Jenkins (10).
It was Obioha’s fourth game in double figures and first since facing Pitt back on November 13.
“Stay consistent with my approach,” he said. “Not trying to change things based on what they’re doing.”
West Virginia was without Chance Moore, who was in uniform and on the bench but did not play. Moore is the team’s second-leading scorer with an average of 12.3 points.
“He wasn’t feeling great during warmups,” Hodge said. “It wasn’t really anything major or anything we feel concerned about moving forward. Just wasn’t feeling great and we made a decision as a staff and training staff to not play him.”
Hodge confirmed Moore was a full participant in the lead-up to Monday’s matchup.
“Nothing happened that gave us any inclination that this could be a possibility,” Hodge said. “He wasn’t feeling good enough and you never want to put somebody out there in a compromising situation. He hasn’t missed any practice time, workouts or nothing.”
WVU shot 30 for 57 from the field and 12 for 27 on threes. Since a 6 for 28 showing from long range in a loss to Wake Forest, the Mountaineers are 39 for 83 from beyond the arc over their last three contests.
James led MVSU with 14 points and was the lone double-figure scorer in defeat.