MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — After scoring 91 points in each of their first two contests, the Mountaineers faced more resistance from Mercer in the final game of their season-opening three-game homestand. However, West Virginia shook off a sluggish first half en route to their third victory of the season, 75-61.
“Give Coach [Ryan] Ritter and his group a ton of credit, man. Their fifth game in 11 days. Obviously, they had a quick turnaround,” said WVU head coach Ross Hodge. “I thought for a good majority of the game, they were the more physical, determined team.”
WVU built an 11-point lead just nine minutes into the contest (19-8) following a 3-pointer from Joson Sanon. However, the Bears scored nine consecutive points to pull even at 28 with 1:57 to go until halftime. A buzzer-beating triple from Finley Bizjack gave the Mountaineers a three-point margin at halftime, 31-28.
“I felt like it was good for momentum, for the team and for me personally to kind of see one go in,” Bizjack said. “That kind of helped us a little bit going into the second half. I definitely agree that we had a little bit more pep in our step going into the locker room.”
“It was good execution,” Hodge said. Good execution and a good shot fake. At that point in time, we had a hard time getting a three to go. It gave you a little bit of momentum going into halftime.”
West Virginia opened up the second half on a mini 8-2 run, extending their lead to nine points, 40-31. The WVU lead would swell to a game-high 20 points with 6:03 to play following a 3-pointer from Seydou Traore. Mercer (2-3) crept within 13 points late, but the Mountaineers were never threatened the rest of the way.
Bizjack led West Virginia with 15 points while Miles Sadler and Javan Buchanan each added a dozen points. Nine players found the scoring column for the Mountaineers. Bizjack and Traore each pulled down a team-best six rebounds.
West Virginia outrebounded Mercer, 41-34 and 16 of WVU’s rebounds came on the offensive end. WVU made just 7-of-27 shots from beyond the arc.
“We weren’t as physical as we normally are, today” said Sadler. “So I feel like coming into the next game, and in the Players Era, we have to be more physical as a team, myself included.”
“We didn’t really come out with the right energy in terms of our physicality, starting with me,” Buchanan said.
Shane Cherry led the Bears and all scorers in the game with 20 points.
West Virginia will compete in the Players Era 8 tournament in Las Vegas next week. The Mountaineers will face Auburn (2-0) Tuesday evening at 11:59 p.m.
“I feel like we are ready,” Bizjack said. “I feel like a lot of it is also excitement. We are really excited to go and play in a super-big event. We’re excited to go play against all these big-name teams. But I still think there’s a lot of work that still needs to be done. Like I have said before, we don’t want to be playing our best basketball now. We want to be there three months from now.”
“It is an incredible opportunity,” Hodge said. “I am super-thankful and grateful to be part of it. I think it will be a top-of-the-mind awareness type of tournament.
“I know our guys are looking forward to it and I am looking forward to the challenge as well.”